Drone
by Dawley
Summary: They have been hunted, seen as dangerous and mindless monsters, and are feared no matter where they go... but no one knows what the life of an Alien drone is like. Until now...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Pain.

It was not something that normally affects drones. We can acknowledge that there is pain, then ignore it. There are many things far more important than your own safety, and so safety is a low priority to focus on.

This pain, though, was something else entirely.

It ran up my leg in a hot stream, like fire was running under the skin and cooking it from within. I screeched, ignoring the thing that had hit me, so completely overcome from the pain that I was blinded for a few moments.

Then my senses started back up. In an instant I was running, running as fast as I could, and dived into the narrow shaft ahead of me just before the fire could hit me. Splinters broke from the walls and dug into my sides, but they were nothing. They were manageable. They could be ignored.

I scurried upwards. The shaft ended in a sharp turn and I followed it, moving as quickly as I could. The sounds of the hosts were everywhere, travelling through the shaft in a way that caused a dull ache to spring up in my mind. I ignored it. The pain in the leg had dropped almost without me noticing, and it too was ignored.

Then I felt it.

_-...Mother?-_

_-I am here, little one.-_

As soon as I heard her voice... calm. There was still the danger of the hosts, yes, but the Matriarch... she was near, and if she was near, there was no reason to fear anything.

_-I tried to open your cell,-_ I said. _–I tried to but they stopped me, and I can't feel-_

_-Patience, little one,-_ said the Matriarch,_ -patience. Think. Stay calm. There is always a way.-_

_**-What the hell are you doing! Oh God! Stop them!-**_

The new voice that I heard was loud, quick, and dug into my mind like a set of razor-sharp claws. Then I heard the whirring noise from one end of the shaft, and angled to listen to it. Without warning a wall of fire came rushing through the shaft, superheating whatever it touched, and before I could move it reached and smothered me in a tide.

Drones are not normally affected by pain. This pain, though, was something else. I knew that the Matriach could feel it as I screeched in agony.


	2. Birth

**Birth**

_5 months earlier..._

The first thing that I can remember is floating inside an egg. Mother has since told me an explanation for why I can remember this, but for a while I didn't know what it was. What I find most interesting about the memory is that, within all technicality, the memories aren't my own.

Maybe that explains why it feels like some realistic, yet surreal dream.

Anyway. I remember floating in there, inside a warm and silent environment. But I knew that I had to do something, to find a host. And there was one nearby.

Flexing my legs, I moved around, ringing out the stiffness that was in them. Then, suddenly, the place I went in went bright. The air outside my then-home was cool, but not uncomfortably so, and I crawled out onto the rim to take a look at the environment around me.

There were a large number of tall, vertical objects standing around, as thick and wide as nearly ten of my bodies. Scanning the area, I found the host that had awakened my egg.

Its back was turned to me, and it had no idea that there was danger nearby. Quickly, I scuttled down the side of the egg and crept along the ground, trying to make as little noise as possible.

It didn't work.

The host turned and saw me, but it was too late; I coiled my tail and pounced, unfurling my fingers like a blooming flower and grabbed the host's face. It took hold my body, trying to get rid of me, but then the tail wrapped around its throat and it went still. It wasn't dead, though; I was now its breathing supply.

The next bit was strange; I felt a pushing sensation around my head and I was shot out of my previous body, falling for what seemed like forever into a cavity of some sort. It felt like I was falling, but that was merely a sensation; I was actually being pushed along quite comfortably and safely. I stuck to the wall of the cavity easily, sensing that there was a large drop down below.

A pumping feeling went through my body as I attached to the wall of the space, and I fell asleep.

x-x-x

_-Wake up, little one-_

My mind snapped awake. I felt a slight bit of dizziness and my head throbbed.

_-That's it, everything is alright.-_ the voice said again. It was soft and caring, and I felt... soothed, happy at hearing it.

Then, in a moment that I will never forget, my mind awoke.

I can't describe the feeling, but it was as if I was aware of myself... I realised that I was awake and living! The sensation was overpowering and I recoiled. Pausing, I tried it again, but slowly. I could _move_! Again, it was incredible. It was like I had been alive for some time but had only just become aware that I existed and could do all these things!

Next, I thought that I should try and see my surroundings a little better. I focused and tried something by hissing, and a split second later an image beamed back. I was in a small, tight place; it was warm, but not nice. I felt cramped, like I had to get free. It was infuriating to try and move but not be able to do so.

I had another look at my surroundings and got a better picture: there was a pounding and a deep, rhythimic pulsing somewhere above me, but it wasn't hurting me at all. I could feel it, coursing around me, but at the same time did _not_ feel it, as if the feeling wasn't inside my body.

I waved my tail back and forth, getting accustomed to it. It was long – about the same length as my body – and very flexible. There was something on my chest, holding me in place, so I tugged and managed to break it loose. The pounding above my head... I could have sworn that it got faster and louder at that point, but I didn't care.

I opened my jaw, leaned my head back, and then struck it forward, hitting the "wall" in front of me. I clenched into it with my teeth and felt something warm inside my mouth, and I realised that this thing I was in was not indestructible. It was bleeding, and somehow I knew that if something bled, it could be destroyed.

I could break out.

I positioned my head so that it was pointing directly at the "wall", coiled my tail up behind me, and then, with all my might I slammed straight ahead.

Nothing.

Frustrated, I tried it again. The pounding above me got louder and louder again. I pushed a third time and I heard a series of painful sounding _cracks_ from somewhere in front of my face. There was a warm liquid gushing onto me, but I kept on pushing. Finally, I gave a final spring and burst forward...

...almost pulling back as I felt cold air on my face. I squirmed, trying to get out of the prison I was in, realising that the beating had stopped.

Then, I felt a tug on my tail. It was lodged on something sharp!

I screeched and yanked forward, managing to dislodge my tail from whatever it was that was holding me back. Unfortunately, I was a fair distance above the ground and I fell forward, slamming into the dirt that sat below me.

Yelping, I squirmed and jumped into the air, landing on my stomach. I had a feeling that the place I was now in was much larger than the previous one, so I had a try at looking around. Remembering how I had done it, I made a low hissing noise.

The images that beamed back to me were amazing to my little and inexperienced mind. There were tall, huge objects stretching up into the sky, limitless areas all around me... I stared at the images coming to me with amazement. I was actually able to see!

I tried moving around by moving my body in a side to side motion; I managed to get a fair distance before hitting something. I jumped backwards, thinking it was a hostile enemy, but it was just one of the tall objects that I had sensed earlier.

Then, I heard the voice again.

_-Little one, are you there?-_ said the voice. I felt that same feeling of calm and safety, as if whoever was speaking would protect me from anything harmful... for a while, at least.

I tried to respond, but nothing came out. Focusing as hard as I could, I attempted to make the sounds that I had heard.

_-LI-LIDEL un wun, a a you the... I ca spe!-_

I felt surprised at what I was trying to do. It felt funny, trying to form the words around and speak them, and I tried it for a few more minutes. At the same time, I practiced moving around the area I was in. I was getting better at moving; as for speaking... well, not really that good. Still at the starting block in that regard.

Then I felt the strangest feeling in my chest. It was a feeling, as if I was...

...hungry.

I looked around quickly to try and find something to eat. I couldn't see anything that looked nice or that would satisfy my hunger, so I listened for something instead. The entire place I was in was alive; various creatures were buzzing around all over the place. Glancing upwards, I saw a flying creature about the size of my head flying around. It smelled tasty.

I felt my hunger rise as it circled, coming in closer and closer to me as I ducked down... and then I struck, leading into the air and grabbing the creature before hitting the ground and ripping into it!

It had a hard shell on the outside, but inside it was soft and... delicious. I hadn't tasted anything so good in my life, or ever, for that matter, but I devoured nearly every part of the creature. I didn't feel hungry for a while after that.

It was then that I sensed something nearby. It was a "presence", if that is that right way to describe it. I recognized it as having the same friendly aura as the voice I had heard. Cautiously but curiously, I moved forward.

There were several large, dark objects towering over me. I could tell that, inside, there were several of the embryo carriers, but they were dormant. I realised that I was now inside a cavern of some sort that was large, but at the same time not.

Then, up ahead, I saw her.

She was absolutely _huge_ to my eyes, and that was despite the fact that she was curled up at the bottom of the cavern. I felt a sense of safety as I got closer, as she was so huge and her presence comforting. I found something about her current appearance odd; a vacant thought in the back of my mind said that she should have been resting above the floor with an egg sack, asleep as she helped the hive.

In front of me was the Matriarch, my Queen.

Suddenly, she twitched. Slowly she unfurled from her vacant position, standing up on both legs and raising her tapered skull upwards, flicking her tail slowly. She gazed down at me and then lowered her face to mine, sniffing at me.

_-So you must be the one who I sensed,-_ she said. _–Funny, you're smaller than I imagined you would be.-_

I just stared back and cocked my head. She crouched onto her knees again, keeping her face near mine.

_-Can you hear me?-_ she asked. I paused for a second, trying to mimic what she had said.  
_-I ca heer yo you-_ I said. I heard her chuckle slightly, and thought for a moment about what she found to be so funny.  
_-Ha ha, I thought so,-_ she responded. Slowly, she lowered herself back to the floor and curled up again, wrapping her tail around the nearest two eggs. At that moment, I heard something nearby. It sounded like a creature in pain, but then it stopped.

And I heard the voice of another.

Quickly, I dashed over to where it had fallen and left the Matriarch where she lay, sensing that she was fearful and that it would be best to leave her alone for now.


	3. Curiosity

**Curiosity**

I made my way out of the Matriarch's lair and back into the sunlight. It was at that point that I realised just how cold it was inside the cavern where she rested, and the sun on my back felt wonderful. I was now getting used to navigating around my surroundings much better than I had earlier, and I practiced moving faster and faster.

I heard the cries of the new one, trying to break through the wall of its prison. It was only a few yards away, so I went up to it to watch and, if necessary, help if assistance was needed.

So far, the little one was almost free, and was now ramming into the hard structure at the front with all its might. The structure cracked and burst outwards, spraying more of the warm liquid over the ground, and then a little head popped out. The little one looked back and forth, and it screeched.

I just stared back with amazement. Was that what I had done a few minutes ago? It didn't really matter to me, so I just shrugged it off and continued to watch the birth with fascination.

The little one started to wriggle out of the prison, much calmer than I had been, and eventually managed to jump straight out of the cavity it had been in. It reared up, shaking off the remains it had gathered on its way out, but suddenly paused and looked straight at me. I stared back in bewilderment, wondering what the hell it was doing.

Neither of us moved.

I cocked my head slowly, and then as I watched, the little one did the same. Slightly confused, I pulled back my head and once again it mimicked my movements.

_Humph,_ I thought, _two can do this._

I slithered off to the left and the little one did the same, following every move that I made. I stopped suddenly and, to my surprise, it did so at the exact same time. I got a faint inkling as to how it was able to do that, so I tried it again. This time, I kept my mind blank, thinking that it might have been listening to me all along as I thought.

I went to the right and didn't take my eyes off of the young one. We both went that way, never taking our eyes off one another, until I doubled back and sped back to the point where I had started! And, as I expected, the little one couldn't have known because my mind was blank. I just stood there for a second in my wake before darting off after me.

_-Ha aha ha-_ I said, taunting it. The little one didn't react; it just sat there for a moment, trying to mimic what I had said.

_-Hha ah s ahh...-_ it said, fumbling the words. _-Haaa... aha! Ah! He!-_

It played with the words, rocking back and forth as it did so, enjoying the new sensation. I was going to follow it, as I wanted somebody to play with, but then I heard the Matriarch's voice once more.

_-Ah,-_ she said,_ -so you have figured out how to put words together and speak.-_ Her tone was slightly surprised, but at the same time it was happy. I turned to the entrance of the cavern and saw that she was now standing there, stretching out her limbs and tail, taking in the warmth of the sunlight.

I tried to respond. I remembered how to put the words and letters together to make sounds, so I tried it.

_-Ica-I ca...nn tri to speck.-_ I said a little roughly. I felt a wave of excitement spread through me. I could speak! I had mastered how to speak... a little rudimentary, of course, but I had managed it nonetheless! I felt immensely proud and stood up as tall as I could. The Matriarch looked at me, and I could tell that she was happy with how I was progressing.

_-Very good. I must say, little one, you are doing better than I did when I first tried to speak properly.-_

Her attention went to the newly-born little one. It had to crane its head up skywards just to see the Matriarch's face. She lowered her great skull down until she was level with it, just as it had with me.

_-I think that you're going to progress very quickly as well,-_ she said soothingly. The little one gave a little chirp of happiness at the praise it was being given. It then scurried off near the entrance of the cavern and she stood back up, flexing her limbs once more to get rid of the stiffness in them. With that, she took several massive, booming strides and went away from the clearing. At that point, my young mind could not comprehend why she would leave us. Confused, I scurried after her as fast as I could.

_-Wai moter!-_ I cried. _–Where a you goi-going?-_

She paused. Slowly, she tilted her head back towards me.

_-Do not worry, little drone,-_ she said. _I will be back in less than a minute.-_

_-Bu-but whar?-_ I stuttered again, not quite getting the words out properly. The matriarch seemed to smile.

_-I am getting food and a host.-_ she answered. I thought for a second. A host? Somehow, the unfamiliar word rang a bell, but I decided that I should worry about it later. Slowly, the matriarch took several large steps and moved through the trees, eventually leaving my range of vision.

I could sense the Matriarch's presence not far away, so I used my echolocation to see where she was. I caught sight of her, stalking a few small, four-legged creatures. Compared to me, they were massive, but they were only about the size of the Matriarch's legs.

With shocking speed, she burst out of the undergrowth, lashing out with her tail and striking one of the creatures with the barb on her tail. It shrieked and swayed on its feet for a second as the neurotoxins went to work. Finally, it collapsed and went still. A second creature tried to run, but it was speared as well, and then the Matriarch roared.

Even though she was nearly twenty of her body lengths away, the roar made me recoil and jump back slightly with its ferocity. The remaining creatures took the hint and rose up on their rear legs, fleeing as fast as they could. The Matriarch could have caught them easily enough, but evidently the two comatose creatures were all that she needed. Grabbing both of them with her large upper arms, she dragged them back to the clearing where I sat.

I just gawked at her the whole way back. The sheer size of her was one thing, but the speed of her and the fact that she was able to drag creatures that size was incredible to me. She turned to me as she walked past and smiled. -_Impressive, is it not?-_ she said. I nodded.

The other little one had also been watching. I hadn't realised that it had been able to sneak up on from behind and do it as quietly as it did. We both looked at each other and then back to the Matriarch.

_-How did do that?-_ I asked. I paused for a second and then realised that I had pronounced the words properly. I felt immensely pleased with myself.

_-Simple,-_ she began. -_Inside the barb on my tail is an amount of toxin. It paralyses most creatures when it enters their bloodstream, and it is one of our most useful weapons and defence mechanisms. If you want to use a creature as a host, as I am doing, you can use the toxin and they will not be able to react or run away.-_

I listened with fascination, as did the other little one. I was excited about having such a thing on my tail, so I flicked it around to my face to see. But there wasn't anything there. Disappointed, I turned back to her. -_Wait, you one, why don't me?-_

She chuckled. -_Relax, little drone. You will get a properly formed tail in a few days time. It will not take very long, so just be patient.-_

The Matriarch... she had called me something. And it seemed like a nice thing to be called. _–Wha did call me?-_ I asked.

_-I only said your name,-_ she said. _–Both of you are drones. More than that, though, you are both a part of the hive.-_

I felt proud at that moment, now that I had a name. The other "drone" chirped happily, as if it had given up on speaking for a moment. I noticed that it had some remnants of a hard shell on its face, and quickly it darted off to where it had been when the matriarch had left. Disappearing into a bush for a second, it came up with one of the small flying things that I had eaten earlier. It tossed the bug over to me, and gestured that I should have it.

_-Go. Try ih,-_ it said before ducking back down. I was hungry again, so I moved to the bug and ate it, as I had done with the other one.

Glancing over as I ate, I saw the Matriarch laying one of the four-legged creatures onto a tree. She held it in place with her large forelimbs, before opening up her mouth and making a gurgling sound. The spines on her back quivered slightly at that point, but I paid little attention, too focused on what she was doing.

Suddenly, a liquid sprayed out of her mouth and all over the creature. I saw that it quickly hardened and stuck the creature to the tree, pinning it in place. The Matriarch covered every part of the body except for the chest and the head, which remained exposed. She took a step back, checking to see if the substance would hold, then tapped it lightly with her tail. It held strong. Satisfied, she ducked a short distance into the cavern before emerging with one of the eggs. She sat it down gently, placing it directly in front of the creature and pointing it upwards. When the Matriarch was satisfied with the egg's position, she focused her attention on the second creature.

Curious as to what would happen, I approached the egg. It was massive compared to me; I only reached about a quarter of its height, and eve thn just barely. I peered at it-

_HISS!_

Startled, I leapt backwards. The egg had just hissed at me!

Slowly, I went back to where I had stood, making sure that the thing was not going to lash out and hurt me. Needless to say, it didn't make any moves. However, when I got close enough, I saw something.

The egg had gone slightly transparent. Inside, I could see what looked like organs – until one of them moved. There was something inside, and it was _alive_. Fascinated but now sure that no harm would come to me, I watched. The thing inside was about my size, although it had several huge fingers that were easily the length of my body. The fingers twitched, moving rapidly, flexing itself just as the Matriarch had done. As quickly as it had come awake, the creature went still.

The egg quivered and the top opened up. I watched it, surprised, wondering what was going to happen now. The top split into four parts, opening up like a blooming flower. My attention was then drawn to the many-fingered creature inside the egg. Slowly, it moved upwards to the rim of the egg, and it stepped out into the light, edging forward.

I tried to say "hello" to it, when I realised that this thing couldn't communicate. Shaking my head, I was about to move away when I heard a low grunting noise.

I looked up at the creature that the matriarch had stuck to the tree. It was stirring, getting ready to wake up, but the toxin was still prevalent in its system. Slowly, reluctantly, its large head drooped down and it fell asleep. The many-fingered creature turned so that it was looking straight at the creature. Its fingers drummed excitedly around the rim of the egg and it reared up. I peered closer for a better look.

With shocking speed, the many-fingered creature leapt out of the egg, its fingers splayed wide, and it clamped around the head of the thing stuck to the tree! The tail whipped around for a second before grabbing the throat and coiling around it tightly. After a few seconds, the two air sacks that sat just below the fingers started to pump rhythmically. And it was over.

I stared at the scene in awe. I couldn't believe how fast the thing had moved, and in the back of my mind, I desired to move that fast as well.

From behind me I heard the same familiar steps of the Matriarch. She had just finished preparing the second creature for... for whatever it was that the many-fingers did. I looked up at her.

_-Do those many-fingered things bring more drones?-_ I asked. The matriarch nodded.

_-Yes. It is how we are all born. By tomorrow there will be some new little ones.-_

I felt happy and excited at this news. There would be more companions! More drones to play with! Twitching with excitement, I scuttled off.

I began to feel tired, so I went a short distance inside the cavern. I found a small alcove within the rock, big enough for me to fit inside without being squashed. I turned back to see the other drone, the sneaky one, trying to catch the flying bugs, and the Matriarch carrying a second egg. Content, I wriggled into the alcove, curled up, and prepared to sleep.

For some reason, I felt excited, as if something big would be happening the next day. I knew that there were going to be some new little drones and more time to play and mess around, but I couldn't stay awake for very long and quickly fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Growth

**Growth Spurt**

That night as I slept, I dreamed. It was nice at first, as I was running across plains, moving through tunnels, practicing hunting with other members of the hive, and helping as young ones were born.

But then it went nasty. Scary. Even though it was a dream, it made me fear for my life.

First I saw one of my fellow drones get dragged away by an unseen force. It tried to fight, but the force killed it and focused its attention on me and the others. The others were running with me through the trees, but they kept on getting picked off, one by one, until there were only a few of us left. Of course, they were there, behind us, but they were so hard to detect...

I woke up with a start. I was still curled up inside my little alcove, warm and comfortable. I felt stiff for some reason, though. And the alcove was smaller than I had remembered it. Stretching out, I yawned and moved outside of the alcove.

There was no sunlight outside the cavern. It was completely dark. Glancing around, I saw the Matriarch, curled up on her old position of the cave, holding the last four eggs close to her. Her massive tail was wrapped around them, guarding them from any dangers.

The air was surprisingly warm as I crawled outside. The ground was soft and damp, and I made little noise as I moved across the leaves and dirt, even though I wasn't trying to be stealthy. Sniffing around, I smelt the odour of dead meat somewhere nearby. I looked and saw that it was the remains of my host. It was covered in the same black resin as the creature that the Matriarch had captured earlier.

I still felt stiff, so I stretched again and looked up to where the creatures had been placed. They were now quiet, breathing softly, the facehuggers that were attached to their face now lying dead on the ground. I glanced down at their bodies, feeling a prick of sadness for them. Of course, they were only meant to deliver the little ones into their hosts and that was it, but it still stuck with me.

Feeling hungry, I moved away, only to find that my tail felt constricted. Now I was getting annoyed. I had felt stiff the entire time that I had been awake, and nothing I was doing was helping it to go away. Frustrated, I moved my tail quickly, only to hear a sickening splitting sound. Fear struck me and I craned my head back to check that my tail was okay. When I had gotten my tail jammed on the way out of my host, it had not hurt straight away, but it had after a few minutes. But what had happened to my tail? I started to panic, imagining all kinds of terrible things, because if the damage was as bad...

I couldn't see the tail very well, so I brought it around for a better look. I checked the base: it was okay, nothing wrong there. Further up, the spines were okay, the end-

I stopped and stared at the end of my tail. Sitting there on the end was a small, pointed edge that stood out from the rest. It curved downwards slightly and looked almost like the Matriarch's tail stinger.

My heart quickened as I realised what was happening. My body had started to mature as I had slept, accounting for why my body had been so restricted and stiff. The old layer of skin that sat on my body was now too small for it. I flicked my tail back and forth, removing the last remnants of the small skin from it. My tail now felt lighter, stronger, and much more dangerous, now that I had a barbed stinger on the end.

Wriggling back and forth, I began to loosen and remove my old skin from my body. It was fairly thick, like a carapace to protect me from any small insects or infections that might have harmed me. I felt the carapace loosen on my back, so I reared up and it practically fell away to the ground. The air now felt slightly cooler than it had before, no doubt because of the thick skin that had been sitting on my back falling off. I shook off the last remaining flakes and made a move to sit up, but fell back down.

Then I realised that I had something else on my body now. Moving about a bit, I felt feeling flow into my newly-grown _limbs_.

I guessed that because of the carapace over my body, my arms and legs had been constricted and, as such, I couldn't feel them. Now that I was free of the carapace, I could move all four of my limbs. I couldn't believe it!

Slowly, I tested them, flexing and moving them back and forth, trying to wear out the soreness in my muscles. Surprisingly, I got the hang of being able to move my limbs faster than I had been able to master slithering or even talking properly, and I had full feeling in them within a few minutes. Taking a deep breath, I decided to test them out.

I tried flexing my rear legs and placed them beneath me, making sure that they were perfectly positioned so I would not collapse when I tried to stand. Then I put my arms onto the ground and readied them, giving light pushes up and down. Finally, I pulled myself to the ground and pushed my arms with all my might, so that I would land on my back legs.

I wobbled violently for a few seconds before steadying. My tail flicked out behind me, keeping my balance so that I didn't fall over. I stood there for a few moments. _–I'm standing!-_ I said to myself. Next, I decided to try and walk as the Matriarch had done. Steadying myself once more, I moved my right outwards in front of me and put it down on the ground again. I was still upright, so I did it again. Same result. I couldn't help but feel both surprised and happy at how easy it was and how fast I was learning.

I didn't hear the noise behind me until it was too late. I felt something latch onto my back, knocking me to the ground as it screeched loudly! I fell flat on my stomach but used my upper arms to push myself off the ground and into the air, so that when we hit the ground again, I was the one on top. I made a move with my tail-

_-Hey hey hey, calm down, calm down!-_ the thing that had struck me said. I pulled my tail away and let go of it, stepping backwards on all fours. And then, I clicked my tongue with laughter.

My so-called "attacker" was none other than my fellow drone that had been born a few minutes after me! It stood up on all fours with a gracefulness that I had not yet achieved, and shook the remains of plant matter off of its back. It took a few moments for it to hear my laughter.

_-What? What's so funny?-_ it asked. I managed to stop laughing for a few seconds and collect my wits. I still felt jittery after the mock attack, even though I knew it was not real.

_-Ah, it's nothing.-_ I said._ -You just scared me, that's all.-_

_-Judging by how shaky you are, I guess that I did a good job,-_ the drone replied.

_-No, I've never really used my legs before,-_ I responded. The drone nodded, understanding what I meant. I thought for a second about the way that the other drone stood. Already it was able to move intricately and carefully enough for me not to hear it sneaking up on me, but we were roughly the same age. Confused, I looked at it.

_-How come you're able to move much better than me?-_ I asked. The drone acted surprised.

_-Well, uh... I woke up, and my old skin moulted, and I found out that I had started to grow legs, so I practiced for a little while.-_

_-How long did it take you to get the hang of walking around, anyway?-_

_-Oh, not long... abut ten minutes or so. I've been practicing for much longer than that, though.-_

It made sense, at least. My legs were no longer shaking and were stable underneath my feet, so I tried walking on them again. Somehow, even though I had only been able to walk on my new limbs for a few minutes, it felt as if it was the most natural thing in the world, like I had been able to do it al my life. And they felt much stronger now, as well.

The drone gestured at me with its tail and I looked up. -_Yes, what is it?-_ I asked.

_-Come on, I've got a trick that'll help you practice your technique,-_ it said, and it bounded up to a tree. I followed, deciding not to walk on my rear legs and instead walked on all fours, just as the other drone had done. I found it much easier to keep my balance this way, so I continued to the tree.

The drone stopped and turned around, waiting. I got a hint somehow that it was grinning, that it was going to surprise me somehow. Sensing this, I stayed a little way back from it.

_-So then, this is what I have called "the climbing test",'_ the drone said proudly. I looked up at the immense trunk of the tree, seeing all of the little bits of foliage and branches jutting out of it. After a few seconds I turned back to the drone.

_-So,what... we climb this thing?-_ I asked. The drone nodded.

_-Yep. It's as simple as that. You know how the outer surface is soft and you can stick your claws into it easily?-_ it said, latching its right hand into the surface. I tried it and found that it was indeed soft, but strong enough to stick to the tree itself.

_-Yes, I can see that.-_

_-Well then, you need to beat me to the first branch. That helps you get faster and better.-_ the drone said.

Before I could respond, the drone had propelled itself up onto the tree with its legs and was now climbing furiously, straight up the side of the tree's trunk!

As quickly as I could, I leapt up after it.

I got a good foothold onto the tree and started climbing up after the drone, determined not to let it beat me. Rapidly, I climbed hand-over-hand up the side of the great tree, zooming up as fast as I could go.

The drone had gotten a slight head start and was about four body lengths ahead. It was scuttling madly, swerving up the trunk to avoid little knots and broken branch tips that stuck out of the sides at regular intervals. I just went straight over the top of them, exhilarated at the speed I was going. The drone reached the first of the branches and, to my horror, it _leapt_ off the trunk and shot towards the bottom of the branch! Then, quick as a flash, it rammed the end of its tail straight into the thin outer layer of the branch. It flew upwards suddenly, gripping the bottom of it and scuttling to the top.

I stared at it in awe. I reached the branch and simply climbed up the trunk of the tree to reach the top. The drone was sitting there, grinning madly.

_-I win,-_ it chuckled.

_-No fair, you've had plenty of practice with this!-_ I snapped back. The drone just shrugged.

_-Oh well. Still, you only lost by a very narrow amount.-_

Deciding that I had had enough of this climbing for one night, I climbed back down the tree. Descending the great trunk was a little harder than climbing up, because the slightest slip could have sent me tumbling to the ground. Still, the height didn't seem to be too bad, despite the fact that the branch was twice the height of the Matriarch. The trip down was much more fun, despite being more difficult, because of the fact that I could now see what it would be like to be as tall as the Matriarch herself.

When I reached the ground, I walked around for a little bit more, finally getting the hang of using my arms and legs. The drone came down the tree with me, but it darted away to catch some of the bugs that buzzed around the clearing. I felt a little hungry, so I approached one of the clusters of bugs and crouched down to pounce.

Then, I thought of something. Seeing as I now had a strong tail with a stinger on the end, wouldn't this be the opportune time to try it out?

Raising it slightly above my head, I moved forward stealthily, moving directly underneath the cluster. They were the same beetles that I had eaten the day before, although they appeared much smaller now, no doubt due to my growth spurt while I was asleep. I waited for one of them to come close to me so that when I struck, it wouldn't scatter the group.

After a few seconds, one of them buzzed down towards my position. It moved lazily back and forth, not knowing about what was coming.

It was incredibly exciting, waiting for the bug to come closer. It didn't know that I was there but I could see its outline clearly, and my tail reared up...

My tail shot out with incredible speed, lancing towards the hovering insect above me. I paused, waiting to see what would happen... only for the stinger of my tail to whip past it and send it buzzing away!

I cursed myself and went back to my position on the ground. After only a few seconds, the bug came back, as if it didn't remember what had just happened. This time, I felt even more exhilarated than before. Once again I raised my tail low above my head, getting ready to strike, waiting until the insect came within range.

As soon as it did, my tail lanced out a second time, whistling towards the bug and striking it directly in the back! It jerked away but almost immediately it stared to sway back and forth as it flew. It sank lower and lower to the ground, eventually landing with a soft thud. I made my way towards it and peeled off the hard outer shell before eating it. The bug was delicious and it wasn't long before my hunger was completely quenched.

I decided that I should head back to the cavern where the Matriarch lay, but before I was about to I paused, looking back at the swarm of bugs. They were still there, swarming around lazily, barely making a sound in the quiet night air.

Crouching down low again, I made my move to attack the insects and hone my tail fighting skills while I was at it, but then I heard a hideous, high-pitched screech and something dark leapt through the cluster, lightening fast! The bugs scattered, trying to flee, but it was no use: the dark shape grabbed them and tossed them into the air, making them scatter away from the main group, while others were grabbed as it shoved them to the ground, pinning their bodies under its gigantic hands.

I just stared in disbelief at the other drone as it played with the bugs, hissing with glee. It kept letting one bug fly away for a moment, before pouncing on it again an pinning it. The drone turned to me, laughing.

_-Hurry, don't let them get away!-_ it yelled, scampering after a particularly loud bug that was faster than the rest. I watched as the rest of the swarm came at me and, quick as a flash, I struck at them with my tail and hands. They darted in every direction, but I managed to "capture" three of them under my feet and hands. The other drone and I carried on with this for another few minutes, before all of the bugs had dispersed and the clearing was empty, save for the us, the creatures stuck to the trees, and the silence of the night.

_-Ha ha! I loved that!-_ the drone chirped. -_I want to try it again in the morning when they come back! Ha!-_

_-Nah, it's better to do it at night.-_ I said. -_Then they can't see us and we can pick them off one by one, until they realise what's going on!-_

We headed back to the cavern, jumping and laughing and trying to calm down, to let our systems cool down. As we went past one of the creatures on the tree, though, it groaned. We both stopped and looked at it. there was something

_-Hey, the little ones are almost ready to be born!-_ I chirped, excited that there would be someone new to play with.

_-I think that they'll be born in the morning when we wake up,-_ the drone said. Silently but excitedly, we moved into the cavern.

I went to my alcove in the rock where I had previously slept. It was still large enough for me to fit into despite my increased size. Curling up, I caught a glimpse of the drone scuttling up the opposite wall to mine, finding a small ledge that appeared to have another alcove. I took a final look at the cavern, at the eggs and the Matriarch, sleeping peacefully while protecting our unborn siblings, and at the creatures that were stuck to the trees outside.

And I fell into a deep sleep, knowing that my Matriarch was nearby, keeping us safe.

That night, I had another dream. It was not like the one I had had before, which had made me feel truly scared, but instead I imagined being a hatchling again, catching bugs as the matriarch watched. But this time I was not in the open air, and there was not just me and the other drone. Instead, there was over twenty of us, rolling around and playing under the watchful eye of... they weren't drones, but... warriors. That was it. And above us was a Matriarch, not the one that I knew, but another one, just as caring and wise.

I liked that dream.

x-x-x

I woke up and heard the chirping of insects and birds outside. I listened carefully for the sound of the Matriarch's breathing, but couldn't hear it. I decided that she must have been outside somewhere. I stretched out and yawned, having a look around the cavern.

There was something in front of my face! It was massive, drowning out the rest of my vision, smiling madly at me...

I was about to start when I realised what the "thing" was. It was one of the newly-hatched little ones!

This one seemed to be very calm and controlled. I stepped out and it backed away from the entrance of my alcove, letting me get past. It looked up at me and stood up as straight as it could, its tail waving lazily behind it.

_-Ha loh, bi-bi-bi on, Ha! I speck! Ah!-_ it said excitedly. I couldn't help but smile and I nudged it out into the sunlight, not wanting the little thing to get sick from the cold in the cavern for some reason.

Today the sun was bright and warm, filling the clearing outside the cavern with a beautiful warming glow. The Matriarch was outside, spraying more of the hard substance onto a tree. She had collected another of the creatures that she had gotten yesterday, and it was not quite out cold yet. It still groaned and made a low wheezing noise with its mouth, trying to make the Matriarch go away. I snorted; honestly, what was going to make something of her size go away easily? Nonetheless, she finished gluing the creature to the tree and went back inside the cavern to collect another egg. Turning back, I saw that the little one that had been outside my alcove was following me with curiosity. I turned around fully and lay down on the ground, making sure that I was at eye level with the little one. Now I was over twice the height of how I had been when born.

The little one stared back at me, waving its tail lazily. I got an idea to play a game that I thought it would like. I looked up suddenly, as if I had seen something behind the little one. It turned around casually and as soon as it had, I tapped it on the back with my finger. Before it could turn around, I had resumed my original position. The little one cocked its head slightly at me and so I looked up again, and once again I tapped it on the back.

But this time, the little one whipped around quickly and saw my hand before I could put it back down! It clicked happily, now that I had been caught. A bug flew out from behind me and the little one stared at it buzzing in the air, before focusing its attention on trying to pluck it from the air.

I walked away just as the Matriarch came out of the cavern. I stopped and stood on all fours, looking up at her. She looked back and smiled.

_-Well well, then, I see that you've made a new friend.-_ she said. I looked back at the little one chasing after the bug. It wasn't having any luck as far as catching it was concerned, but by the looks of things it didn't care and was just chasing the bug for the hell of it. Turning back to the Matriarch, I nodded.

_-Yes, and it's quite an energetic little friend, too.-_ I responded. The Matriarch chuckled and resumed carrying the egg. I caught a glimpse of the other drone over her shoulder, scampering up a tree, leaping from branch to branch as fast as it could. It seemed to be very good at running fast speeds, but could also stay quiet whilst doing so.

Suddenly I heard a grunting noise, like a creature was in pain. It was coming from the second creature that the Matriarch had attached to the tree the day before. Excitedly, I turned to the Matriarch.

_-Matriarch! The little one is coming out!-_ I said. She turned around and looked at the creature as it stopped struggling and the little one burst out. She smiled and then looked at me.

_-Little drone, I think that it may need some help in getting around,-_ she said. I nodded excitedly and turned and bounded to the newborn drone as it landed on the ground.


	5. Naming

**A.N.** Sorry for the long wait, everybody. I had some things to do (the end of school and having to watch the SG-1 pilot, for one) but I have been working as hard as possible to finish the chapter. I just want to thank both Queen of the Red Skittle and StormRaven333 for their help with alien names, thanks guys:)  
One more thing: this story has had nearly 600 hits, 5 people have it on alerts, etc... but why have only three people reviewed? Please, I need feedback to be able to continue the story, so if you have the time leave a review. I'll give you a cookie...

x-x-x

**Naming**

The newly-born drones were just like us when we had hatched. They were energetic, full of wonder and awe, and loved to get the hang of their environment by playing and messing around in the clearing. They were already a few hours old and were already racing each other across the clearing.

Of course, it had been nearly two days since I had been born, and that sense of awe from when I was first born was now a memory. I had by now gotten used to my new body and the area surrounding the hive cavern, but still curiosity lingered in my mind. I had a feeling that the world I lived in was much larger than the extent of the trees that I could see.

The curious hatchling that had followed me earlier that day came up to me. I looked down at it and lowered myself to its eye line, so that it wouldn't have to strain its little neck.

_-Yes?-_ I said, expecting it to go on about something randomly, trying to get the words right. To my slight surprise, it didn't.

_-Ah-ah wuld look bah hind I know if yoh-yoh.-_ it said, and scampered away.

Before I could react, the drone slammed into my back from behind and knocked me to the ground. Before I could stand up or retaliate, it had leapt up onto a tree trunk like the beetles did and stayed there, laughing. I just stood up and shook the leaves off my back.

_-Hmm, how did I know that you were going to do that?-_ I asked.

_-It doesn't matter, but I'll stop doing it if you catch me unaware and do something similar.-_ it replied.

_-Very well.-_

I started to turn around but suddenly I whipped back, knocking the drone's legs out from under it with my tail! It shrieked, falling backwards off of the tree trunk, and it hit the ground with a thud. The hit was only a glancing blow, though, and it lay there stunned for a second before standing back up.

_-Okay, I won't do it ever again.-_ it said, chuckling softly. I glanced over at the little one, lying on the ground near the cavern entrance. It had obviously had enough excitement for the day, and was starting to fall into a deep sleep. Memories of waking up in my new body the night before flooded back to me, and I wondered whether the little one would go through the same thing that I did.

Just as I made a move to go back to the cavern, I paused.

There was something welling up inside my chest. I felt as though I had to do something, something important... absent-mindedly, I realised that it was just instinct, something that would automatically kick in at a certain point in my growth cycle.

Slowly, I turned around.

Something was moving around at the edge of the trees. I couldn't see past the thick trunks, but I could hear – and smell – whatever was there. The noises were coming from the same general area that the Matriarch had captured those creatures from a few days ago... but something told me that there were more around, this time.

Slowly, I turned my whole body in the direction of the sounds. It was chaotic; groans, strange trumpeting noises, the thumping of many legs, and the sound of plants and trees being trampled and pushed over.

_-What is it?-_ asked the drone. _–Can you see anything past there?-_

_-No,-_ I responded. _–I can't see past the trees, but there is something big going on. And I don't like it.-_

_-Me neither,-_ said the drone. Cautiously, we both stepped back, moving back towards the Matriarch's cavern.

As we entered, we could see that the last of the eggs were stuck to the floor of the cavern with the same chitin that had been used to stick the hosts down. Unlike the gritty rock, the chitin was smooth and hard, but it felt much nicer, much more familiar to me.

The Matriarch was laying some more of the chitin onto the walls of the cavern. It made it a lot easier to see around now, as the chitin layers reflected sonar waves much better than ordinary rock. Calmly, she continued to lay it down, despite all of the noise outside. I and the drone walked past the sleeping little one and made our way to the Matriarch. She turned around, seeing us there.

_-What is troubling you?-_ she asked calmly.

_-Matriarch, there is something going on outside, and I think... I don't know, but we think that the creatures causing it might bring harm to the hive.-_ I said quickly, nervously. _–I just think that we should do something, like fight them off or shepherd them away...-_

To my surprise, the Matriarch just laughed softly, but not in a mean, spiteful way. She just turned around and looked at us, and I felt a wave of calm spread over me.

_-Little drone, do not worry about the herd,-_ she said. _–they only eat leaves and plants that grow on the ground. They will not attack, because by now they know that we are in the trees somewhere. Of course, there may be one that's stupid enough to try and get close to us, but most of the time creatures of that type stay away.-_

I snorted. _–But how can they not know? I mean, their own Matriarch-_

_-Those creatures do not have a Matriarch, little drone,-_ she said. Slowly she stopped laying the chitin onto the walls and lowered herself to my eye level. I recoiled slightly, feeling ashamed at having asked such a stupid, obvious question, bowing my head-

_-What is wrong?-_ the Matriarch asked. I looked up, and saw that she was concerned. The other drone scampered outside to get the two little ones, leaving me alone with her.

_-...I... I am sorry for asking that question, for being so simple-minded, I just didn't know...-_ I answered. The Matriarch nuzzled me lightly at that point, raising me up.

_-You thought I was angry at you, little drone? Of course I was not, you just didn't know about how the creatures lived yet, that's all. Do not be so hard on yourself for wanting to gain knowledge.-_

I felt better, but a little... silly for having thought that the Mother was frustrated or angry with me. She turned back around to resume laying the chitin down, and I slowly walked back out into the sunshine, treading lightly around the little drone that was asleep. I saw the other drone chasing the little one around a tree, and both were clearly enjoying themselves. The little one was squeaking with glee as it would turn around and leap straight at the drone's face, making it jump backwards with a start. The two saw me approaching with a grin on my face, and they paused.

_-What is it, big on?-_ the little drone asked. It had now mastered speaking quite well, so at least understanding it would now be easier.

_-Nothing,-_ I said. _–So then, who wants to have a go at Seeker?-_

_-Seek... see...-_ the little one said, playing with the new word. The drone turned to it as the other little one approached.

_-It's simple, you see. One of us needs to try and find the others as quick as possible.-_

_-Is it fun? Essy?-_ asked the little one. I nodded.

_-Very, and you'll get the hang of it. Just hide and don't make a sound.-_

The little one chirped with excitement and as I turned away it and the others scampered off. I waited for a few seconds, grinning, and then turned back around.

The clearing was empty of the drones. I stood there for a second, thinking about what I could do to find the others. Seeing as I had played the game a few hours ago with the drone, and seeing as how sneaky it was, I had the memories of what I could do to find them fresh in my mind.

I tiptoed forward as silently as I could, keeping an ear and eye out for any sounds or movement that could lead me to the others. Unfortunately, they were too well hidden. Then, I got an idea.

_-Ah, where the...-_ I mumbled out loud, loud enough for anybody to hear. Sure enough, I heard a faint clicking laugh. It was coming from the bushes to my right.

As quick as a flash, I leapt at the bushes with my hands thrust forwards – and I landed on the curious little one, pinning it to the ground!

It squeaked frantically for a second, trying to get free, before it stopped. I let it go.

_-I win,_- I said. The little one looked up at me grumpily.

_-No fiar! You mad me speak!-_ it said.

_-But that's part of the game, hide until you're discovered,-_ I said. _Don't worry about it, there's always another chance.-_

So, for the next few minutes, the little drone and myself worked together to find the others. I need to admit that the other little one was quite a challenge to try and find, because it evidently heard us and knew not to make a sound. It had hidden under a branch that had fallen from a tree, but it had snuggled right in under the leaves on the ground so it wasn't very easy to see.

The drone was plastered to a tree, having taken off a section of thick ivy and lichen and then perched where it had sat, laying the plant matter over his body. The little one found it there and felt immensely pleased.

That didn't last long when it found out that, because it had been found first, it was now the seeker by default. It wasn't bothered for long, though, and it happily began to count as the rest of us scrambled to take cover.

I darted around the clearing, looking for a suitable hiding spot. The little drone wriggled into a little rock crevice near the cave entrance, and the other done darted off, so I headed off into the trees to look for a better spot.

I found the perfect hiding spot: a fallen log that had been hollowed out with age. Several low-hanging ivies and mosses grew on the outside, and as thus everything on the inside was obscured from any unwelcome and seeking eyes. Quickly I checked the clearing: it wasn't to far away and the little drone would be safe if it came to find me. Its back was still turned to me, so I whipped around and dived into the log.

It was surprisingly cool inside... not as much as the matriarch's cavern, but cool enough. The log was split into three separate pieces, each curving around to face the clearing. The section I was in was just large enough for me to cram inside, albeit a little uncomfortably, but somehow I managed to stay still and keep a watch on the little drone as it started to search for the others and myself.

It found the large drone pretty quickly. It had simply hidden behind a tree trunk and the little one had simply sneaked up on the hiding spot from behind. I got the suspicion, though, that the drone might have made sure that it would be discovered easily.

I started to get a little fidgety waiting for the duo to find either me or the other little drone. I managed to keep myself still, though, and everything was going alright. So far, the two hadn't even thought of looking in or around the log.

Then I heard something.

It was a light sniffing noise, coming from right behind me.

Slowly, I turned my entire body around to look at what was going on. At first, I didn't see anything. There were some footsteps, but not heavy ones. They were light-footed and quick, and seemed to be moving around fairly calmly.

Then, suddenly, a small snout dropped in front of the log's main entrance, right in front of my face! I started, jumping back slightly and shaking the log. I went still, though, and the snout pulled away from the log.

I glanced outwards through a hole near my face and saw the drone with the little one. The drone was staring straight in my direction, but not in a fearful way. It cocked its head to one side, and then clicked with laughter.

_-Come on out!-_ it called out casually. _–You shouldn't worry about anything.-_

Cautiously, I edged my way out of the log backwards and stretched my limbs briefly. I backed off slightly, just being careful, and then I peeked around the log.

There was something standing there. It was a creature, about my size but a little taller than myself and the other drone. It had a long, sturdy tail which waved gently behind its body, and large, powerful-looking hind legs. The front limbs were a little shorter than the back ones, and had hands like mine. The head was inside the log, so I couldn't see what that looked like.

The whole creature was built surprisingly like myself. I watched it for a few moments, wondering whether it was-

The creature started to pull its head out. I froze, watching, and the other drones did the same. I heard a slight pulling and tearing sound as the head withdrew until there was a loud snap and it came out completely.

The creature's head was smaller – _much_ smaller – than mine, and the appearance of it was strange to me. The head was triangular in shape with a large mouth and cheeks, with two circle-things on the sides that looked like eyes. The creature was chewing on some of the ferns and ivy that had been growing inside the log, maybe accounting for why it had come to it in the first place. It swallowed the last of the plants and, to my shock, it looked _straight at me_.

I tensed up, but then I realised something: the creature wasn't actually looking at me. It just stared in my general direction for a few seconds and then began to move off. As it did, it bent down to tear out some more small plants and leaves off the ground.

I was curious about the creature, so decided that I was going to follow it. I took a few steps forward, when it turned back around and saw me moving. It froze instantly, nothing moving except its jaw, chewing slowly.

This time I didn't pause, and seeing as the thing could see me, I stopped moving slowly and went back to just walking normally. For some reason, the creature relaxed slightly, not worried that I was coming towards it. I got within an arms reach of the creature and stopped, sitting on my haunches.

The other drone came up as well, stopping right next to me. It cocked its head as the creature swallowed what it was eating, ducked its head down and took another mouthful of plants.

_-What is it... doing?-_ the drone asked as it just looked at us dumbly. I shook my head, not taking my eyes off of it.

_-I have no idea... maybe it doesn't know us as a threat?-_ I said. The drone thought for a second.

_-Maybe. But it looks like a juvenile of one of our host creatures.-_ it replied.

Calmly, and still chewing, the creature turned its head and started to walk away. Even as it did this it didn't look frightened, and it just headed off casually. Without thinking twice I fell into step about a body length behind it, watching the creature's every move.

It was heading back towards the area where the sounds had been earlier, and I decided that I was only going to follow it up to there in case something would happen. But something kept on bugging me about the way that the creature was reacting to me and the others. The other drone was walking alongside me, keeping step with almost no effort. Quietly, it sneaked up to the creature's side and poked it with its tail.

The creature fell away in surprise, rolling onto its back and honking loudly. The drone reared back for a moment, as if-

I froze.

I could hear something from not far ahead. It sounded like an answering honk from a much larger creature, like it...

Without warning, there was a hideous roar and something – something _big_ – began to barrel through the trees, straight at us! The little creature scampered back up onto its feet and ran off with surprising speed on its back legs, heading back towards where I suspected it might have come from.

And then, the thing burst out of the trees.

It was a full grown version of the little creature that we had just followed. It was over twice my size, and it looked _pissed_. It glanced at the little one running off and then turned its attention to the drone and myself, making a deep growling noise.

That moment was unusual, because I had been expecting something the size of the Matriarch to come crashing through the trees, and then this had come out. But this thing was still one of the most intimidating things I had ever seen.

For some reason, this creature was acting like the other one and wasn't showing any signs of being afraid of us. I stood on my haunches, staring at it. The drone did the same, but it was still acting curiously, trying to get a good look at it while preparing to dart off.

None of us moved. The sun felt hot on my back from not moving around, but I just kept on staring it-

Suddenly, the creature stood up on its legs and roared loudly at us. I'll admit it, I flinched... but as soon as it landed back on all fours, I felt something well up inside me. I wasn't going to let this thing hurt anybody in the Hive, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let it get anywhere near my Matriarch or the eggs.

Standing up as tall as I could, I arched my tail and bared my teeth, snarling.

The drone did the same, and we edged slowly forward, trying to push the creature back. It looked at us with surprise, and started to back up.

Then it lashed out.

Snarling, it leapt forward, swinging one of its arms viciously. I managed to jump back just in time, but the drone was caught on its side and it flipped in the air, striking a tree. The entire trunk shook and the drone screeched, before getting back on its feet and leaping right onto the creature's back!

The thing bellowed and swung its arms over its back, trying to knock the drone off, but it dug its claws into the creature's back and held on tight. This made the creature roar in anger and it tried once again to knock the drone off.

I just watched with amazement, preparing to attack the creature as well. -_What are you doing?-_ I called out.

_-I'm trying to... gah... hold this thing in place!-_ the drone yelled back, flattening onto the back as the creature rammed into a tree sideways. _-Do you... do you mind at least TRYING to help me with this thing instead of standing there?-_

Nodding, I leapt onto one of the trees and climbed rapidly, trying to get to a good jumping position. I braced myself, holding onto the tree tightly with my tail arched up...

What happened next was a blur; the creature rolled over, nearly crushing the drone to death. The drone shrieked in agony and... it let go. Now that it was free, the creature began to focus its attention on me.

Before I could react, the creature slammed its shoulder into the tree I was perched on. I gripped the trunk as hard as I could, but with a sickening _crack_ the base snapped in two and the tree began to fall to the ground!

I braced my body for the impact with the ground, but because I was fairly close to the base of the tree the jolt didn't affect me as much as I thought it would. Slowly, I peered up, checking where the creature was. It was preparing to charge, baring its teeth and growling loudly. I couldn't see the drone any-

_-What are you waiting for? RUN!!!-_ yelled the drone as it screamed past me, running as fast as it could. I didn't need much more incentive, and I dived after it, keeping pace with it as the creature bellowed and set off after us.

_-Ha HA! I can't believe this!-_ I said, laughing. The drone started to laugh as well.

_-How fast is that thing, anyways?-_ it said. I peered behind, just in time to see the creature knock over a sapling and sending it spinning away. The thing was running nearly as fast as us, but it was running on its hind legs instead of all fours. I turned back to the drone.

_-Fairly fast,-_ I said.

Glancing around, I saw that we were actually fairly close to the hive, and the two little drones were watching with awe. Knowing that this thing chasing me wasn't going to stop unless it was injured, killed or incapacitated, I got an idea. I turned to the drone.

_-Up the tree. Leap and sting it, or just knock it out.-_ I said.

_-So, I just do the thing that I did to you...?-_ the drone asked.

_-Yes, pretty much.-_ I said. _-But this time, use your tail!-_

Taking I deep breath, I stopped running and stood still, skidding for a few moments. The creature saw this and I think that it must have been readying itself to ram into me or something, because a split second after I stopped, its footsteps did as well. In a flash, I coiled up and sprung into the air, landing on the tree trunk in front of me before turning around to look at the creature. It was standing there, in an aggressive stance, getting ready to try and kill me. I was well within its reach and it knew, so it curled its fist into a ball and got ready to strike...

Fortunately, there was one thing that the creature didn't know.

That was that the drone, when I had stopped, had darted through the underbrush and went for another tree – one that was straight behind the creature. But what made it so successful was how quiet the drone was when stalking prey. The creature, still focusing its attention on me, had no idea that the second thing it was following had disappeared...

The drone launched off the tree with its tail raised and its claws outstretched, landing on the thing's back. Before it could react, the drone had dug its claws in and, with one fluid movement, buried its tail barb deep within the back of the creature!

I took my cue and leapt off the tree, landing on the creature's face and stinging it at the base of the neck with my own tail barb!

Finally, the creature began to stagger. It groaned and as the drone and I got clear, it collapsed bodily to the ground, knocked out cold.

I took that moment to start breathing again.

The drone looked at me. -_So... what should we do with it? Use it as a host, or food?-_

I thought for a moment. -_I think a host could be good,-_ I said.

Taking hold of the creature's arm, I started pulling it. The drone got the tail and we both dragged it back into the clearing, where both of the little ones were watching in awe.

_-How di do that? Ho-how?-_ one of them asked.

_-With... with great difficulty,-_ the drone said, straining a little. Now that the unconcious creature was in the clearing I put it down, and I had a thought that for something of its size, the creature was surprisingly light. That could be the reason why the Matriarch was able to drag two of them back to the cavern the previous day-

_-Well well, look at what you two have just brought back.-_ said a familiar and soothing voice.

I spun around to the cavern entrance, and standing there was the Matriarch, peering down at us and the host we had just captured. She looked over it a few times, and then turned back to us.

_-Matriarch! Look! We caught it all on our own! It was incredible! It... you should have seen it!-_

_-Little drone, you don't have to worry. I saw everything.-_ the Matriarch said. -_That was impressive. I didn't ever think that the both of you would ever try this, not at the age that you are right now.-_

-_Well, um... we kind of got it by accident, because it was coming to help a little one that was scared of us. So, we only attacked it because it was attacking _us_, and then we had the idea of getting it back here...-_ the drone said. It was speaking nervously, as if it had done something wrong and was trying to explain itself, but the Matriarch just shook her head. Slowly, she lowered herself to our level.

_-You're speaking like you have done something wrong, but you haven't,-_ she said. _–This is a great act, little drones,-_ she said. Slowly, she turned to the other drone. -_You have quiet a remarkable ability to stay hidden, as you demonstrated.-_

The drone straightened and scratched the back of its head.

_-That's something that I've noticed about you, little drone. You are deserving of a name... you will be known as Stalker, if you wish.-_

The drone froze. It looked like it was going through a whole range of emotions, and it began to smile uncontrollably.

_-I... I have... I have a name?! Oh, I... thank you, Matriarch, I...-_ it stuttered. The Matriarch beamed in her soothing way, and nodded.

Then, she turned to me and my heart skipped a beat.

_-You are quite the fighter, little drone. I saw how well you were able to control yourself whilst holding off that host creature. I am much impressed.-_

I felt a little embarrassed at that point and pawed at the ground.

_-I have the feeling that you are going to play a major part in the survival of us...-_ the Matriarch said. And then she paused, letting a feeling of nervous anticipation set in.

_-...Scythe.-_

I thought for a moment. Did she... had she just...?

_-Ma-Matriarch, thank you...-_ I said, not knowing how I should feel.

_-As I said, little drone,-_ she continued, _-you should not thank me for giving you a name. Every member of a Hive is given theirs when they are about your and Stalker's age, but it took me a while to try and figure out what you would be called. You are named, of course, because of the skill in which you are able to handle your talons and tail.-_

The Matriarch stood back up, basking in the sun's final rays of the day. I looked up and watched as it disappeared over the horizon, feeling a new sense about myself.

Scythe... I don't want to sound like I'm up myself, but I thought that the name was fitting.

x-x-x

**A.N.** Reviews? Crits?


	6. Meaning

**A.N.:** Hey, everybody, sorry for the long wait. I had a bit of things to do (read, watch Stargate, play Halo 2, buy every Stephen King novel I could find even though they scare me) but it's finally done! Thanks for the reviews and enjoy!  
P.S. As for the creatures the hive uses as hosts, just imagine an Iguanodon but without the beak.

x-x-x

**Meaning**

That night, because of my size, I found out that I was unable to re-enter my little alcove. This didn't worry me, though, and I just moved to a second one that was further back in the cavern. I noticed something about the cavern that I hadn't before: whenever it was hot in the day it was cool, and at night it was comfortably warm. The air was a little too dry, though, so I moved out of the alcove and back onto a ledge that was across from Stalker's.

I didn't feel as tired as I had before, so I stayed up and watched the sun go down. It was an interesting thing to see, with everything going cool just after the sun had gone down except for some of the plants and rocks. They glowed, almost illuminating the darkness.

But I think that real reason that I was still awake was because of the Matriarch. She had come in with us but instead of retreating to where the eggs were, she just paused and stood in the entrance to the cavern, looking over her shoulder at the setting sun. She did so in a relaxed way, but I could sense that there was something heavy on her mind.

Slowly, I got up and walked over to where she stood. She made no indication that I was there. I saw that she wasn't rigid, like she was trying to protect the cavern and the eggs, but instead she was just looking up at the sky calmly. Almost casually, like she just wanted to look at it.

_-You seem worried, little Scythe.-_ she said. I took another step closer to her.

_-I'm not really, Matriarch... I just wondered what you were doing at the entrance. You haven't done this before.-_ I replied.

I felt her smile softly. -_I have, little one, but you weren't awake.-_

I paused for a second and took a quick glance outside, still wondering what the Matriarch was looking at.

_-Why do you do this then, Matriarch?-_ I asked. She turned her head slightly towards me.

_-Come closer, so you can see.-_ she said. So I trotted forward until I was in the full entrance to the cavern, and I looked up.

What I saw was... startling.

Flying high above, there was a whole flock of flying creatures, swirling in and out of formations, creating a dazzling spectacle. For a moment I wondered what they were doing, and then a splash of green appeared in the sky. It swirled behind the flock as they lanced and darted around the sky like a spray of water, in a strange formation that I didn't recognise.

Even though I didn't know what the creatures were, I began to think that they must have been scenting the sky with pheromones, maybe to attract mates or give a signal to others that the area was safe for them to come to.

I just watched with quiet awe, almost hypnotized by the movements of the flock. After a few more minutes they dispersed, scattering like leaves on the wind, still trailing their pheromones. The Matriarch looked down to me.

_-It is impressive, isn't it?-_ she asked. I nodded.

_-Matriarch, is this what you always keep a watch for? Things like this that happen at night?-_ I asked. She sighed.

_-Most of the time... but not always.-_ she responded. I got the feeling that I should leave any questions that I had about what she had said until later. She turned around to the inside of the cavern and moved back inside, and I followed, hopping up onto my ledge to sleep. As I did, I saw that the Matriarch was looking over all of the drones and me... and smiling.

Almost immediately afterwards, I fell asleep.

x-x-x

I didn't sleep much that night.

I began dreaming again. At first it started out just like the others that I had had previously. There was something in the trees, watching my every move, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike... until I struck back. But, despite the fact that these things were not built like me, they were _strong_ as hell, nearly smashing through my exoskeleton.

Then it went black.

Next, I was experimenting with my newly formed limbs and tail, scurrying up walls and trees like there was no tomorrow. There were quite a few other little drones with me as well, and we were playing pouncing games, trying to catch flying things and leaves floating along in the wind.

At that point I heard a very audible groan and it made me feel slightly distressed, and I began to wake up. As quick as it had begun, though, the feeling stopped and I was asleep again, back into the dream.

Now I was a fully-grown drone again, practicing attacking the host creatures but nearly getting trampled as a whole _herd_ came rounding behind the trees, out of nowhere and trying to get away from us in a chaotic, panicky mess. Naturally, several of these stayed behind – I recognized them as looking identical to the creature that I caught with Stalker – and they were taken down easily. Then it was just a matter of a lugging the things back to the hive, which was built into an underground cave system. As one of the creatures was being lowered into the hive it was dropped and killed, but-

Another groan. This time I very nearly came fully awake and sat there for a minute before falling back into unconciousness once again.

Now it was only a few days after the herding event: I was stalking the grounds outside the hive at night, watching the stars and the sky, when I saw something hurtle downwards and strike the ground with such force that the entire area shook as if the Matriarch was coming.

A few minutes later and I had gotten some other drones to investigate the object that had crashed, only to find a smooth, cold object that was dug into the ground. And more than that, there was a trail of pheromones that went from inside and into the trees. The scent was unfamiliar... but had an air of danger about it.

Then the attack came.

From the canopy, something hot and fast came shooting down, striking a drone that I had known well in the side of the head and literally blowing off its entire upper section. Like a wave of water, we surged up the tree to where the bolt had come from, only to find nothing...

Then a second drone was attacked! Now it was a long, smooth object that came hurtling with frightening speed, striking the drone it the back of the head and pinning it to the tree trunk. It died almost instantly but the body spasmed violently and tore free of the object, falling to the ground where it thrashed about spraying its blood everywhere.

Looking around I was able to see what had done it: a two-legged creature, slightly taller than I was, crouched on a tree branch and covered in a whole variety of viciously-shaped barbs, stabbing objects and on the shoulder... there was something unnatural, but dangerous looking, much like the rest of the creature

The thing put up a good fight but didn't stand a chance as the swarm of drones descended upon it, almost tearing the thing to shreds. It was a living creature, and it was bleeding... if it bled, we could kill it. One of the drones subdued it with a tail strike to the neck, but not after three went down by its claws.

I hoisted the thing onto my back and prepared to dart off to the hive with it, but suddenly... the trees came alive again! There were _more_ of the things in the trees, and they were attacking!

So we did the only thing that we could do... we ran away.

They were able to keep step with us almost without effort, gliding through the trees like the wind... I counted at least three of them, excluding the one knocked out on my back. Now they were taking us down, left and right, getting closer and closer, about to make the final blow, there were too few of us and unless we got to a cave system or the hive we-

I jolted awake just in time to see the Matriarch roar, stand up quickly, and almost dart out of the cavern!

Quickly, she looked around, checking everywhere to make sure... what was she looking for?

_-Matriarch?-_ I said cautiously. She stood still, ignoring me and darting her head back and forth for a few moments. I hadn't actually seen the Matriarch like this before... well, I had seen her in the same attacking pose before, but now... she actually looked _frightened_.

_-Matriarch, are you okay?-_ I asked again, a little louder. Slowly, her breathing slowed and she started to relax. She shook her crested head, looking like she was still a little jumpy on the inside.

_-Yes, I'm fine.-_ she finally said after what seemed like an eternity. She shook her head a few times and then went back to her position on the floor, gently lifting a fallen egg she had knocked over back up.

I was curious as to how much time had passed since I had tried to go to sleep, so I looked to the entrance of the cavern. The clearing outside was still dark and the moon had only just come up, I guessed that I would have only gotten about two hours sleep at the most.

For some reason, though, I didn't feel tired. The dream had been so livid, so lifelike, that my body's systems had been pumping adrenaline and probably thrashing about. I looked down at where I had been lying and saw several deep claw marks in the chitin layer.

_-You felt it, didn't you?-_

Slowly, I looked back up at her. She had stood up slightly, looking at me and the other drones with concern. For a second, I was confused, wondering what she had meant. At the same time, though, I thought that I already knew the answer.

_-What do you mean, Matriarch?-_ asked Stalker, from across the cavern. I noticed that the two smaller drones were also listening in. I leant forward, waiting to hear what the Matriarch would say next.

_-Did you _feel_ it?-_ she repeated, _-Like a dream, but one that seemed too real? As if it... as if it was a memory?-_

She sounded anxious, almost nervous as she said it. I thought hard for a second, trying to remember all the details of the one I'd had. Yes, it was very real, and it-

I felt a chill pass up my back.

_-That is what I thought,-_ the Matriarch said with a sigh. She was now fully awake and alert, as were the other drones and myself. I knew that there wouldn't be much sleep again tonight, if at all. I hopped off of the ledge that I was sitting on and moved closer to the Matriarch, mainly because I wanted to get rid of the feeling of unease that was sticking to me like mud but also because I wanted to know what was going on.

The Matriarch saw me approaching and lowered herself down to my eye level, as always. The other drones came out of their sleeping spots to listen as well, and I noticed that the two young ones were getting ready to shed their skin. I could feel nervous excitement as she began to speak.

_-Let me ask, did you all see the same things? Was there something hunting you that stayed in the trees? Was there more than one of them?-_

We all answered at the same time. -_Yes.-_

_-Hmm,-_ the Matriarch said. She shook her back slowly before continuing to herself, _-Yes, it is what I thought...-_

_-What?-_ asked one of the little ones, who was fidgeting a little.

_-I know what it is that you saw. You see,-_ she said, pausing, _-all of the members of a Hive are "connected", in a way, to their own Matriarch. You have all felt calmer around me, yes? Comforted when you are scared or distressed?-_

We all nodded.

_-That is because we are your creators, in a sense; the ones that gave birth to you,-_ she said. _–I will explain all of the details about this later, but for now, I'll keep on track. A Matriarch will feel what her children feel, and the same with the children. But on some occasions, when someone is stressed, everybody feels it.-_

I understood. I had felt it before, and as the Matriarch said, I knew that the others understood as well. I grinned.

_-What happened to you tonight was... well, you experienced a nightmare that I had, that was an older memory from long ago.-_

Something didn't sound right about what she had said. If what the Matriarch said was true, then I could "see", in a sense, what she had seen in her life. But in both of the dreams, I hadn't felt any changes in my body, I felt like a drone through the entire thing...

_-But, the dreams... they were memories, how come I did not feel like a Matriarch?-_ I asked. She just smiled gently, smiling in the way that one does when they know something that you don't.

_-Little Scythe, there was a time when I was just like you. I wasn't born as a Matriarch. If I had been, well, the egg would have burst long before I was even ready to hatch!-_

I chuckled, as did the others. She continued.

_-Anyway, what I am trying to say is that you should not be distressed about whatever you see in a dream that is not your own. If you wake up, just try and get back to sleep again, and it's likely that it won't occur again.-_ She sighed gently. _–I... I am sorry that I woke you all up.-_

_-Don't blame yourself, mother,-_ the curious drone said, and she smiled softly.

Now that the explanation was over, I could feel tiredness sweeping back over me. Slowly, I climbed the wall and got back onto the ledge. I curled up once again and got ready to go back to sleep, but there was still something nagging at me, and that was one particular detail of the dream: the things in the trees.

I could feel that the other drones were now curled up and were already nodding away, but the Matriarch was not. She was on the floor, protecting the last few eggs with her tail like she usually did, but she remained awake, staring ahead blankly. Slowly, cautiously, I stood back up and moved to the rim of the alcove.

_-Matriarch?-_ I said softly. She turned to me.

_-What is it, little one?- _she asked. I took a deep breath.

_-In the dream, there was something that was stalking me – you, I mean... it was able to kill many of us and there was nothing that I could...-_

I stopped. The Matriarch was no longer looking at me, and instead she was thinking deeply, considering doing something... it took only a few seconds. She turned back to me.

_-That... that happened to me when I was roughly two months old. Tomorrow night I will tell you and the others about what those things were, and about all of the other off-world threats that exist.-_

Finally, the Matriarch seemed to relax. Slowly, her head lowered back to the floor and in no time at all, she was asleep.

Instead of joining the others, I stayed awake for a few more hours.

I just lay on my ledge, thinking about all I had seen so far, knowing that there was something much bigger out there, much bigger than just the Hive's clearing. I just thought about anything and everything, not wanting to go to sleep. Fear had nothing to do with it, of course; my mind was just too active and curious to shut down for the night.

I didn't sleep facing the inside of the cavern, like I usually did, but instead looking out at the clearing. I can remember seeing one of the little drones edging outside, ripping out of its old skin, just as I dropped off.

x-x-x

_-Wake up.-_

Slowly, I began to wake up. I felt a little more tired than usual but it didn't bother me much. I stood up on all fours and shook myself vigorously a few times, before bothering to look at who had woken me up. Stalker was standing there, grinning, with a miniaturised version of us perched next to his hand. It was only half our size and no longer resembled its original hatchling self, but I recognized it as the curious drone. And standing just behind it was the other drone, playing with a small beetle.

_-Look at what I found outside this morning,-_ Stalker said in an upbeat tone. I looked at both of the drones, who were sitting on their haunches and listening to us. I pretended to look over them for a few minutes, like I was examining them.

_-Ha! You found _prey_ to hunt!-_ I said loudly, and pounced on one of the drones gently. It screeched and somehow managed to worm its way out from under my hand and leapt up onto my back, getting a firm grip around my neck.

_-Who's the prey again?-_ it said. I clicked with laughter and jumped to the floor of the cavern and darted outside, where I acted out an overly dramatic death scene. As soon as I hit the floor and lay still, though, the little drone on my back began to panic slightly, thinking that it had actually killed me.

_-Oh, I... uh, oh no,-_ it stammered, not really sure about what to do. I could tell that it was almost expecting me to jump up and scare it at any second, but at the same time there was a growing sense of fear that...

I gave up.

I just sat up slowly and began to chuckle. The drone just looked at me, bewildered, for a moment, and then scowled.

_-That was _not_ funny,-_ it said.

_-I'm sorry, it just... well, got a little out of hand, that's all,-_ I said. -_Forgive and forget?-_

The drone waited for a second, and then began chuckling with me. Stalker and the other one came out of the cavern and into the clearing with us.

_-Okay then,-_ began Stalker, _-what should we do today?-_

_-I have an idea,-_ the curious one chirped up. We all turned to it.

_-What's that?-_

_-Well,-_ it began, _-you know_ _how there's that stream that runs nearby? Through the trees?-_

I nodded. Both Stalker and myself had seen it on a few occasions, but it didn't even count as a stream, really; it was just a trail of water that was about as wide as an egg and so shallow that even a hatchling could sit in it and not be in any danger.

_-Yes? What are you getting at?-_

_-Why don't we follow it and see where it leads to?-_

I hesitated, thinking very quickly about what could be along there. Who knew? The Matriarch probably did, and I _was_ curious about seeing what was past the cavern and little clearing that I had lived in and knew. But at the same time I didn't want to abandon the area and-

_-Sure, why not?-_ said Stalker. -_But I'll stay here and keep a watch over the hive, just in case.-_

_-Are you sure?-_ asked the little one, a little sadly. Stalker nodded.

_-Yes, don't worry about it. There's always another time. There always is.-_

The little drone chirped and seemed to be cheered up by the explanation. It bounded off into the trees to the left of the cavern, and I went after it, the second drone following closely behind me.

**A.N.: **Reviews? Crits? Cookies?


	7. Lake

**Lake**

_-So, what do you think is going to be at the end of the stream? What? I can't _wait_ to see what's there... I feel so excited! Come on, it's over this way...-_

_-What about you? Are you excited as well? Come on! Get a smile on your face! You're only a few days older than us, anyway...-_

I sighed.

_-I know as much as you about what's there,-_ I said with a chuckle. The curious drone just shrugged and continued to walk along, managing to stay a fair way ahead of me. The second stayed by my side and kept pace, playfully nipping at a few flying insects in the air.

The stream wasn't too far up ahead. It looked like someone had just gotten bored and dug a shallow trench into the ground, and then let it fill with water. The bottom was covered in small stones and crabs that were able to scuttle along the bottom as if there was no water flowing overhead.

All three of us stopped at the stream and took a deep drink.

_-Okay then, we're here!-_ announced the curious drone proudly.

_-So, which way do we head now?-_ I said, thinking. The stream went in two directions. In one way it went towards where the creatures had been yesterday, but the other went up a slight slope that stretched behind the area where the cavern and the clearing was. I glanced up at the top but couldn't see anything over the rim.

_-Why don't we go up the hill?-_ the second drone said. -_I mean, we don't know how far the stream goes in that direction, but it sounds like the source could be up the hill. If it is, and we run into trouble, we won't be very far away from the hive.-_

_-Let's do that!-_ said the curious drone and me at the same time. It started jumping up and down excitedly. I nodded as well. In case anything went wrong with the Hive, we could just run down the slope in a few seconds and be able to help. And we wouldn't be able to get lost very easily, as well, which was a good thing

We trekked up the hill quickly, taking bets as to what would lie at the top. I said that there could be a giant mass of water, but the others didn't believe me. The second drone said that there might be a second entrance to the cavern up there, but the curious drone scoffed at it.

_-No, I think that there might just be a lake of something similar up there,-_ it said. The second drone growled.

_-Oh, come on! It's-_

The drone stopped halfway through the sentence, looking over the crest of the hill. The curious drone and me also got to the rim and looked out... well, I'll just say that at that point, we all felt a sense of surprise and wonder at what was in front of us.

The curious drone and I were right. A massive lake stretched out in front of us, so big that I could only barely make out any details on the other side. The rim sloped downwards slightly to the water's edge, which was composed of rocks both large and small. The stream was flowing through a small gap in the rim, accounting for how it was able to flow downhill.

The water was deep, too. I could faintly see a few small fish gliding under the surface and periodically leaping out, before hitting the water again with a large splash. Then they swan straight to the bottom before getting back up to the top and jumping again. And not very far from the shore was a massive, dead tree trunk. It jutted out of the water like a stinger in someone's carapace, water lapping gently against its partially fallen trunk.

We just stared.

_-I am really glad that you suggested this,-_ I said to the curious drone. It just stood up proudly, its head raised high in the air.

_-Well? Are we just going to stand here or are we going to look around a little?-_ the second drone said impatiently. Without hesitating, the three of us moved towards the lake.

There was a giant boulder sitting at the edge of the lake. It was leaning against a slightly submerged lump of shale that sat just below the surface of the water, and it was nicely smooth and rounded. The thing was colossal, nearly as tall as the Matriarch herself. Instead of moving down to the edge of the lake, like the others, I went straight for the boulder.

_-Hey! What are you doing?-_ called out one of the drones. I turned back to them as I walked slowly to the boulder, walking casually.

_-Nothing,-_ I called back. _-I'm just trying to get a good view of the area! Don't worry!-_

I reached the boulder. It was dug into the ground at the edge of the water and, now that I was up close, I could see that the surface of it wasn't as smooth as I had thought. There were some plants growing out of the assorted cracks and gaps in the rock, and the side facing the water had been nearly flattened by weathering and had deep scratches running along the surface.

I tapped it gently with one of my fingers, testing how strong it was. Nothing happened, so I struck it slightly harder with both hands in a slashing motion. My claws raked several light scratches into the surface of the rock but it didn't crumble, which was what I had feared it would do.

_So the boulder can be climbed safely_, I thought.

I braced myself, crouching down and flattening my arms to my body, and then sprung up, landing squarely on the top of the rock. I shook myself off and then sat on my haunches, surveying what was in front of me.

At the far side was a large rock face that might have been a waterfall at one stage but was now dry, and instead of cascading water there was a whole mass of ivy growing on the face. I looked a little closer and I could see a light trickle of water flowing down across the ivy, making the lake at the bottom froth lightly. I could see quite a few more fish darting around beneath the surface and leaping in the air. When I turned to check on the other two drones I saw the curious one in the water but close to shore, chasing after a creature that was swimming like a fish but when it jumped into the air it flew with a pair of massive wings.

Then something moved beneath the surface of the water.

I caught it only as a glimpse – I was focused on the two drones and even then I was only able to see the thing's pheromones – but as soon as I had turned to it, the thing was gone. I knew that it hadn't been a trick of my vision, because the fish in the lake were acting as if something massive had gone past and swept them along in its wake, but it wasn't anywhere. That confused me. Desperate to try and get a better look, I moved out a little further to the rock and peered out over the edge.

I heard a massive, piercing _crack_ from right below my feet. Suddenly, the boulder that I was sitting on literally split in two, tumbling into the water, dragging me along with it! I had no time to react. Flakes of rock went everywhere before the half that I was on collapsed into the water, and then leaned forward, smacking into the surface of the lake with a tremendous splash!

Because I had thought the rock to be... well, _almost_ completely stable, I had dug my claws into the side of it as I leaned over the side, just in case what was down there was dangerous. Unfortunately, I couldn't yank them out in time, so when the rock went under the surface I was dragged along with it.

The water was cold to my skin as I hit it, not in the least because I had just been in the sun for an hour. My body jolted, and I looked down, seeing that the rock had struck a slope that went down deeper into the lake. Straining, I managed to yank my left arm free just as the boulder began to tip forward and I flattened myself to it. Thankfully the thing _didn't_ roll onto the end I was stuck on, and it instead hit the bottom and began to slide down even deeper into the lake!

Frantically, I yanked on my right arm, which was well and truly jammed into the rock. I tried to look up at the surface of the water to see how deep I was, but the boulder half was sending up so much silt and plant matter that I couldn't see anything above or in front of me. Then, I gave another furious yank-

-and my claws simply tore the rock apart as they broke free.

I gave myself a little push off the rock and shot upwards towards the surface of the lake. I paused to look back at the boulder half as it continued to slide down, sending up so much silt that it hung in the water like a dark raincloud, hiding whatever lay on the bottom. Finally, the boulder seemed to hit another piece of rock and it stopped, the silt flowing forward very briefly before stopping and settling.

I peered around the bottom of the lake, trying to see if there was anything dangerous obscured by the silt cloud. The cloud continued to settle and no giant shadows came out of the depths hungry for blood, so I swam up to the surface.

When I hit the surface I practically leaped out like one of the fish that I had seen earlier. I took a moment to look around and check on where the drones were. They weren't on the edge of the lake where I had last seen them, and I felt worry start to build up. If something had happened, then-

_-That was _incredible!_-_ squeaked a little voice from behind me. I turned around and saw that both of the drones were now in the water with me, swimming like mad. I chuckled.

_-What do you mean? All I did was get stuck on a falling rock,-_ I said.

_-Yes, but you got yourself free, and didn't hurt yourself, and... it was just incredible!-_ the curious drone said quickly and excitedly. The other was nodding excitedly as well, and I felt the same way as well... after all, it isn't every day that one manages to narrowly escape danger in such a way.

_-Seeing as we're all out here, let's explore,-_ the second drone said, and it ducked under the surface and swam away. The curious drone dived under next and nearly leaped out of the water before submerging, and I followed last.

Almost all of the silt had cleared or settled when I dived back under. The boulder had now cracked into three pieces and it lay on the floor, silent, leaving no indication that it had just tumbled into the lake and ripped up the bottom of the lake. As a matter of fact, now that the silt had settled smoothly, it hardly looked like the lumps of rock were new to the environment, instead looking like they had been there for years.

_-I don't know about you, but I'm going to get something to eat.-_ said the curious drone. Now that I thought about it, I _was_ feeling a little bit hungry as well. The last thing I'd had to eat was a piece of the host creatures yesterday, and that had been in the morning. Looking around I saw that the fish that had been scared away by the boulder chunk were back, casually swimming around, but keeping a fair distance away from us.

We all thought the same thing.

_-Think that they taste nice?-_ the curious drone said. The second shrugged.

_-Only one way to find out...-_ I said hungrily.

The three of us darted forwards at the biggest cluster of fish as fast as we could. As with many other things that I had learned, I got used to swimming much faster than I did with slithering or talking.

Actually, swimming was very much like slithering as a newborn. I flattened my legs and arms so that they were pressed against my body and then, using my tail, I propelled myself forward. The fish cluster noticed and they quickly scattered with amazing speed, but unfortunately for them, we were much faster in the water than we had been on land.

The fish were fairly large – about as long as my body – and they had an arch of sharp looking spines sticking up on their backs. But they weren't actually fearsome looking... they even had suckers for mouths, not huge, gnashing jaws filled with teeth.

As soon as I got close enough, I reached out easily and grabbed one in my hands. It struggled for a second and nearly wormed its way out of my grasp, but I managed to dig my claws into it and it stuck fast, unable to do anything but wriggle and squirm fruitlessly. The other two drones had gotten their own fish and were having a little more trouble than I had with mine, and were getting frustrated. The curious drone finally sank its teeth into the fish and it went rigid before going limp. The second drone was a little less subtle and stung its fish with its tail, producing a similar result.

_-I liked that!-_ said the curious drone. -_That was fun! We really should try this more often! Heh, they were fast, I want to catch them all...-_

_-Definitely,-_ I replied. -_But I'd rather do it after we eat.-_

Quickly, it glanced at the fish, and then back at me.

Suddenly, both of the drones went rigid. They could hear something in water. A split second later, I heard it too. It was a... growl.

A hungry growl.

_-Where is it?-_ said the curious drone, its head darting around rapidly. It was impossible to tell, but it seemed to be coming from-

_WHUMP._

The attack was so sudden that none of us could react. A gigantic creature – at least five times my size – charged out of a rock crevice just under the two drones and opened its huge, gaping maw of a mouth. It looked more like a worm than a fish, with a long blubbery body and no eyes, or at least none that I could see. But it had scales running along its mass and on the end of its tail were two large flipper-things that went up and down, propelling it forward. A dorsal fin sat on top of the bloated mess, but that was of little importance to me.

_-Get away!-_ I yelled, and immediately all three of us started to swim away from the thing.

For something of its size, it was surprisingly fast, cutting through the water like a quill. It snaked through the water, its body pulsing horribly, emitting a roar that sounded horribly shrill. And seeing as it had come out of the crevice near the shore, we were being pushed to the middle of the lake where there would be little chance of us surviving.

Unfortunately, this creature did not know what it was up against.

_-Hey!-_ I yelled to the others, _-We need to turn around and stab it with our tail spikes! There's no way that we can fight it head-on!-_

_-Okay!-_ the two drones yelled back at the same time.

I turned around to get a better look at the thing and, shockingly, it was gaining on us. It opened its mouth again and this time I could see that its jaw was split into four parts, with a circle of sharp teeth in the centre. A long rope of something, maybe saliva, came trailing out of its mouth and then, without warning, it practically leapt through the water and tried to snap its jaws shut around my tail!

Somehow I managed to coil my tail away while still moving through the water and I made a reasonable distance between myself and the thing.

_-Get ready!-_ I yelled. This was going to be very tricky...

Another shrill roar. But it was further away this time.

_-Turn!-_

All three of us turned in the water, flipping around to stare the creature in the face. It kept coming at full speed, churning a trail of silt behind it. We didn't stop moving either, though, and we rocketed towards it, getting our tails ready to attack.

The thing opened its jaws, and at that instant we peeled away from the mouth and moved around to its sides, digging our claws in as hard as we could! The thing began to whip back and forth in the water, and its body rippled violently, but the three of us didn't let go.

Gritting my teeth, I raised my tail barb and slammed it down into the creature's hide. The others did the same. As soon as we had done it, the roar went much higher than I had thought it could.

_-Ha ha HA!-_ said an excited voice. I couldn't tell which drone it was, but I felt the same way. No real fear, but a sense of exhilaration and facing danger that-

Without warning, the fish-worm thing slammed into the bottom of the lake. It yelped in pain and then it pushed itself off of the floor again, sending up a thick screen of silt and small rocks.

It wasn't going down.

_-Sting it again!-_ screeched the second drone.

I buried my barb in a second time, this time much deeper. The creature shrieked once more but this time it was lower, quieter than it had been before. But it was still moving.

_-I think it's slowing down!-_ called out one of the drones.

And then, finally, the thing just slowed in the water and smacked its head into a small barb of rock, tearing a cut into its skin. Dark blood billowed out in a cloud but it didn't react and just lay there still. I finally let go and made for the surface, positive that it wouldn't be picking another fight with us any time soon.

The two drones hit the surface just after me. We were now close to the middle of the lake, but it wouldn't take very long to swim back, maybe a minute or so.

_-Now _that_ was fun,-_ said the second drone, bobbing in the water. I nodded.

_-Hey, now that the thing is out cold, can we get more fish?-_ said the curious drone, panting. I took a glance down at the water and saw that the fish were returning now that the fish-worm was out for the count.

_-Sure,-_ I said, and dived under the water again.

After about half an hour, we had caught some more fish and placed them in a small pile on the shore. There was at least twenty of them, so that if they tasted good they could just be brought back to the hive. Each of us had taken one fish and had stripped the scales off.

_-So, what do you think it tastes like?-_ said the second drone as it prodded at its fish with its tail. The fish twitched gently and left a little track in the sand as it was pushed slightly.

_-Well, there's only one way to find out,-_ I said. Picking it up with both hands, I opened my mouth and took a massive bite out of the fish's stomach.

It was the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted.

_-I'll take that as a sign that it's safe to eat,-_ said the curious drone, and it began to gulp down massive chunks of the fish, as did the second drone. I just laughed quietly and then continued to eat until there only the bones of our fish were left. It was that good... as a matter of fact, I thought that I could eat more.

_-Okay, if we don't take these to the hive, I will hurt you,-_ said the second drone, wiping a few loose scales off of its snout. I chuckled and so did the curious drone.

x-x-x

_-You look like you've had a good time,-_ said Stalker as we came back to the cavern, each of us holding several fish. Stalker was standing at a tree in the clearing, holding it with both hands The two other drones bounded off with their piles of fish and went straight to the cavern's mouth, walking inside like they were going to show the Matriarch their crowning achievement.

_-It was good, as a matter of fact. Really good,-_ I said, grinning. Stalker grinned back.

_-It must've been. So, was it a river up there, or a-_

_-Lake.-_ I said, finishing the sentence. Stalked nodded and peered up at the gentle hill slope.

_-I'll look at it tomorrow. But first,-_ it said, _-here's the newest addition to the hive.-_

I looked down at Stalker's feet and saw a little newborn standing there, craning its head up at me. It was young, but already had most of the blood and flesh gone from its body. It chirped happily and opened its mouth.

_-How old?-_ I asked.

_-Oh, about an hour. That's why it's fairly clean. But I have something to show you,-_ Stalker said. He looked back to the tree and took hold of it again. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, it opened up its mouth and a spray shot out, sticking to the tree and hardening almost straight away.

_-The Matriarch told me how to do it,-_ Stalker said, sounding immensely pleased. I nodded and looked at the row of trees going to the cavern entrance, seeing that several trees were now covered at their bases with chitin.

_-Do you want to know how to do it?-_ Stalker asked. I thought for a moment.

_-Well... maybe later,-_ I said. I took off two of the fish that I had and put them on the ground.

_-You really should try this,-_ I said. Stalker looked at it for a second, picked the fish up, and took a bite out of it. It paused and then wolfed the rest of it down, savouring every moment. The hatchling moved to the second fish and began to tear little lumps of it out as well.

Grinning, I headed back into the cavern with the rest of the fish.

x-x-x

**A.N.:** Reviews? Crits?


	8. Grown

**A.N.:** Well, it took a while, but the new chapter is finally done! Please enjoy!

x-x-x

**Grown**

_Four months later..._

The male Sprint was standing in amongst a row of trees, chewing placidly at a small shrub on the ground.

It was a full-grown specimen, and a very large one at that. It had all the characteristics of its species: a small, triangular head, long sturdy tail, powerful hind legs and smaller forearms built for grabbing and holding objects. It took hold of another shrub growing on the side of a tree and tore a clump of leaves off, chewing them noisily. A few shreds of the leaves fluttered to the ground, covered in saliva.

The Sprint's herd was only a short distance away, foraging through even more bushes and shrubs to satisfy their never-ending appetite. A few hatchlings were scurrying around amongst the legs of the adults, particularly the females, and they made little chirping noises as they went. A large bull stood in the middle of the herd, looking out over the clearing that they were in, trying to weed out any sign of danger.

The scene was quite serene, almost peaceful. There were at least fifteen adults and seven hatchlings and juveniles, all moving along slowly, migrating to another feeding ground.

That wasn't my concern, though.

I was focused on the Sprint a short distance away, blissfully eating away at the shrubs and bushes, completely unaware of the predators that were stalking it.

_-Scythe? Where are you?-_ said Stalker, in another tree not too far from my own. Quietly, I shifted around the trunk from my original position so that the others could see me clearly. We were all in the trees, hidden in the canopy so that the Sprints couldn't see us just in case they looked up. Stalker was perched on an old branch stump that looked rotted and fragile, but somehow it was able to stay attached to the main tree trunk even with a fully grown drone on top of it.

_-Ah. Good to see that you haven't blown our cover,-_ Stalker said. I shot a stare in its direction.

_-Technically, you made me fall off the tree trunk. It's your fault,-_ I said back. Stalker chuckled softly and then stared back down at the Sprint.

The rest of the herd had deemed the place to be safe to settle down in, and as a result they weren't as tightly clustered together as they had been. They honked back and forth at one another as they moved out and stared to tear up any low-lying plants in their way. The lone Sprint below us stood up, honked twice, and then moved a little farther into the trees away from the herd. A second Sprint waddled up and honked softly, making the other shuffle sideways so that it could get a bite at some food.

_-This makes things a little more interesting,-_ said Stalker, intently thinking about what to do next. I peered down at the two Sprints, watching them tear at the leaves hungrily.

_-Well, what should we do? Get one, or the both of them?-_ I asked. Stalker sat back up on the branch it was on and I did the same.

_-Well, Whiplash caught a lot of fish up at the lake yesterday. I think that we have enough food as it is.-_

_-So, just one?-_

_-Just one,-_ Stalker said, nodding._ -Although it'll be hard to get away quickly enough if they manage to alert the others.-_

I frowned. It was true; to be able to drag the creature away as quickly as possible without being in any danger from the rest of the herd, we'd have to take them both out _very_ quickly. This was not helped by the way the wind was blowing; it felt like it could shift any time and send our scent towards the herd. And, as we had learned from an earlier encounter, Sprints do not like to be stalked.

Fortunately, we had planned this situation out already. I leaned down towards the ground at a pile of bark and old leaves.

_-Dart!-_ I said quietly, _-Can you see the Sprints yet? They're getting close.-_

There was a few seconds of silence.

_-Yes, I can see them,-_ said a voice from underneath the pile. The voice sighed. -_You don't have to worry about a thing, really. I've been watching them ever since you went up the tree and hid, so... yes, I can see them.-_

I let out a breath, relieved. The creatures finished off the bush they had been eating and then turned their backs to the bark pile, their tails hanging just over it.

_-Right, this is a good chance. The rest of the herd isn't worried, so they have their guard down,-_ said Stalker.

_-Alright,-_ said the voice, twitchy with excitement. Slowly, delicately, the bark pile began to raise itself up in the centre. Something was pushing the pile away-

Without warning, a large chunk of bark slid off the pile and hit the side of a tree trunk. The noise it made wasn't loud, but it made enough to make one of the Sprints turn around and look. It stared at the pile for a few seconds, chewing slowly, before turning back to the bushes and ripping out a fresh clump of leaves.

Once the Sprint's back was turned, the bark pile began to shift once more. Slowly, the tip of something – curved and wickedly sharp – began to emerge, moving upwards in a straight line. As soon as the tip was free, the rest of what it was attached to followed: a long, bony tail, highly flexible and dangerous. It pointed forward, aiming at the Sprints, but it didn't stop emerging.

Then, the entire bark pile rose up and fell away... revealing the fully grown drone that had been lying beneath it.

Slowly, the drone crept forward, somehow not making a single sound as it went. It kept its long tail arched above its head like a scorpion, getting ready to strike the two Sprints in front of it.

_-Are you sure you should be doing that?-_ I asked. I heard the drone snicker.

_-It's fine. Stalker showed me how to do this ages ago,-_ it replied. -_Okay then. Are you two ready?-_

_-Ready,-_ said me and Stalker at the same time.

The drone stopped, arched its back, and then struck.

There was no way that the first Sprint could have stood a chance, even if it had known what was coming. The drone lashed out with its tail, striking the first creature in the neck with its tail twice, sending it to the ground with a hard _thump_. It remained conscious for a few seconds before finally going out cold. The second heard the thump and wheeled around, seeing the drone perched on the ground between its friend and itself. The sprint backed up, getting ready to honk and alert the others.

The Sprint, however, never got to make a sound.

As soon as the drone on the ground had struck, Stalker and myself jumped off of the branches we were perched on and went straight towards the second creature as it was turning. We landed on the Sprint's back and before it could react, we had plunged our tail-blades deep into its chest, stopping it dead. This one staggered backwards for a second before falling against a tree, making a much softer thud than the first as it hit the ground.

_-Did any of them hear it?-_ I said. Stalker quickly bounded a short distance up a tree trunk that was nearby and glanced out before jumping back to the ground.

_-No. They didn't hear a single thing. Everything's ripe for the picking,-_ Stalker said mischievously. I chuckled and took hold of the Sprint's upper arms, while the drone went for the tail. Stalker stayed on the tree, acting as our scout as we tried to get away.

We got only a short distance into the trick undergrowth when the wind shifted. I froze as the realization of it kicked in, and I waited for the sound of the calls of the other Sprints. Suddenly the voices went up in a noisy cacophony of honks and trumpeting and I began to pull the unconscious body just that little bit faster.

_-Please hurry it up! The Alpha is looking _very _angry!-_ Stalker yelled. I heard a vicious snarl and then the sound of a tree trunk splintering, quickly followed by the ground shaking as it collapsed. I heard Stalker laughing as it bounced back and forth between the trees, leading the Alpha male away from us.

_-Scythe, rock face right behind us,-_ said the drone, and I turned to look. On the way to the clearing we had gone through the trees, which now looked very bad in retrospect. We had missed the ledge and now we were dragging an unconcious, heavy Sprint with a lividly pissed off one right behind us. I growled in frustration, trying to think of how we'd get the Sprint up the wall.

_-I think one of us should drag and the other push,-_ I said. The drone nodded and darted to the back of the Sprint and began to push on its hind legs as I took hold of the shoulders and began to go up the rock wall. It started to move slightly and I thought that it would wake up... but it didn't. Its head went limp again and I continued dragging it, relieved.

Then, without warning, there was a cry of pain from somewhere near the clearing. There were a couple of quick thumps and then Stalker came running out of the trees at full pelt. There were two large gashes in its side and they were spilling blood everywhere.

_-Come on! Hurry!-_ Stalker yelled.

Suddenly my feet weren't touching the rock face anymore. They were hooking into soft ground, and that could only mean that I had managed to get to the top of the face. Stalker, despite its injuries, dashed up to me and took hold of the Sprint, straining to try and lift it up. The drone pushing it gave a heave and then the entire upper body was resting at the top of the rock face.

_-Oh no,-_ I heard Stalker say. I looked across the trees and saw the Alpha male coming at us at full speed, snorting wildly and bucking its huge head back and forth. It was galloping straight at the drone pushing the Sprint.

_-Watch OUT!-_ I yelled, but it was too late. The Alpha trumpeted and slammed into the rock wall, shaking the ground and nearly causing the Sprint's body to slide off of the rim. I caught it and looked down at the bottom, trying to see what had happened. The Alpha was still down there, breathing hard and looking up at us. It honked loudly and I screeched loudly back at it, making it flinch. Then it went back to going back and forth along the bottom of the wall.

_-What happened to Dart?-_ asked Stalker, the wounds in its side starting to close up. I was about to make sure that the Alpha had missed and hit the wall, when I heard a grunt nearby. I looked up and saw the drone, Dart, crawling up onto the ground!

_-Sorry for the scare,-_ Dart said with a chuckle. -_It nearly hit me and I had to let go of the tail to jump up.-_

I grinned, relieved. Stalker grabbed the head of the unconscious Sprint, which was starting to pant, and began to tug on it.

_-Look, maybe we should talk about this _after_ we take this thing back to the hive. Agreed?-_

_-Agreed,-_ both Dart and myself said at the same time.

Now that Stalker was helping us the work wasn't too heavy and, apart from the furious Alpha male, we hadn't encountered anything that posed a risk. It was only very early in the morning when we had set out. The sun was still rising up in the sky, not even at its highest point yet.

_-Do you ever wonder if the physical fitness of the host defines exactly what the drone will be capable of? It makes me wonder...-_ said Dart, talking as it always did.

_-I doubt that very much,-_ said Stalker, yanking on the body to pull it over a half-buried rock. -_Although... it _could_ be possible. But I think that we only take on the same body structure as the host, and that's it.-_

_-That's what I mean!-_ said Dart excitedly. -_I mean, I keep on thinking that your host must have been quiet and fast, because of how you were able to sneak up on us earlier.-_

_-And still do,-_ Stalker said.

_-And yours must have been very good at fighting, right Scythe?-_ Dart said to me.

_-I thought that we were all good at fighting and dueling, Dart,-_ I said. Dart paused and cocked its head, shrugged and then continued to pull.

_-Well... I still say it's an interesting theory,-_ Dart said. Me and Stalker exchanged glances and managed - just barely - to hide a laugh.

x-x-x

About half an hour later, we had managed to drag the unconscious Sprint back to the Hive. We got it straight into the centre of the clearing and then got to work fastening it to a tree. Dart was the best at doing it, so I went inside the main cavern to report what we had caught to the Matriarch.

A lot had changed in the four months since I had been born. The clearing just outside the cavern had been covered with chitin, mainly over the trees and the ground. Because of it, though, several of the trees had died, and now all that remained of them was some old and rotting trunks. But now it was so much easier to navigate outside, and we could also stick any hosts or eggs outside without having to tend to them constantly.

I had changed, too.

The other drones and I were not tiny, hyperactive little ones anymore. Instead, we were now fully grown, lethal and able drones, and there was almost nothing that could stand in our way. We were all fully armed with tail barbs, claws, tongues and sheer strength.

No wonder so many of the creatures on our world were afraid of us, I had thought to myself once.

I walked inside the cavern, pausing briefly as three young ones rolled by on the floor. They were two days old and were still getting used to their limbs and the surroundings, but were doing a good job of it. One of them chirped at me and then scurried outside, the others following it. I went a little further, past another drone – Brute – laying some fresh chitin onto a bare piece of wall.

Finally, about thirty feet into the cavern, I reached her.

The Matriarch had finished weaving her egg-sack several days ago, and was already laying dozens of eggs a day. She was suspended off the floor of the cavern, sitting there on her struts peacefully, the egg sack moving around lazily and laying new eggs. I moved carefully between the eggs and then stopped. The Matriarch was wide awake, looking out over the main cavern and the eggs. She looked down at me.

_-Little Scythe,-_ she said. The effects of the chase earlier were beginning to wear off and I felt calmed from hearing her voice.

_-Matriarch, we have gotten another host,-_ I said. -_It's a Sprint, most likely young adult. We nearly got smashed by the others, but they could not catch us.-_

The Matriarch beamed. -_That is well, little Scythe. Was there any sign of activity around the Hive?-_

I shook my head. -_None, Matriarch. All of the other creatures are probably still asleep. Besides, the plate worms are in hibernation. We don't have anything to worry about.-_

_-Very well. Thank you, Scythe.-_

I smiled and turned around, walking back towards the entrance. I moved carefully through the eggs once again, before reaching on that was on the rim of the others and taking hold of it. I was going to take the egg out to the Sprint, but just before I started pulling it I looked back up at the Matriarch.

_-Matriarch?-_ I asked. She unfurled slightly and looked at me.

_-Would you like me to get you a meal?-_ I asked. She rumbled slightly.

_-Only if you wish,-_ she said. I nodded and then began to drag the egg gently outside.

By the time I was back out, Dart had finished gluing the Sprint to a chitin-coated tree. The Sprint was already stirring and it was trying to get away, but it could only rock back and forth and shudder drunkenly. I put the egg down in front of it and then stuck it down securely. Almost immediately, the facehugger inside the egg began to stir. The Sprint noticed it and began to squirm, making some low mewling noises.

Dart groaned. I raised my tail and struck the Sprint, knocking it out immediately. As soon as it went limp the facehugger jumped out and stuck to its face like a limpet.

_-Scythe?-_ Dart said, looking up at me.

_-Yes? What is it?-_

_-Can we go back up to the lake? Pleasepleaseplease I want to! Did the Matriarch say it was alright?-_ Dart said quickly. _–I haven't been up there for ages and I don't want to make her angry it-_

_-Yes, she said it was fine,-_ I said, almost laughing. Dart immediately stopped jumping up and down, and made an excited chirping noise.

_-Fish! Yes! Come on, Scythe, let's go!-_ Dart squealed.

_-Last one up there has to get the worm-fish,-_ I said. Before Dart could respond, I was flying off up the hill towards the lake. It was able to catch up with me, though, and the race up the hill was frantic. I ducked under a fallen log, went around a massive chunk of rock, and only just managed to get to the shore of the lake before Dart did. As soon as I stopped, panting for breath, Dart burst out not far behind.

_-That's not fair,-_ Dart said. I shrugged.

_-Oh well. Still, it could be worse,-_ I said. Dart looked up.

_-What do you mean, "It could be worse"?-_

I grinned. _–You actually expect me to answer that?-_

Dart thought for a moment. It took a few seconds, but then it froze briefly and shuddered.

_-Oh, right,-_ Dart said. _–In that case, _don't_ answer that.-_

We both laughed.

I guess that I should explain who Dart is. Do you remember the curious little drone who kept on following both me and Stalker? Well, about a week after it was born, the Matriarch saw it take down a Sprint and a bird, on both occasions moving with incredible speed. So, as a result, she called the little drone Dart.

Dart didn't shut up about it for a week.

Just then, I caught sight of a rippling spreading across the surface of the lake, not too far from the shore. Suddenly a massive fish leapt out, its fins fluttering like a bird's wings, and then it hit the water again with a massive splash. I felt my stomach begin to rumble loudly.

_-Let's cut the talk and eat something, shall we?-_ I said.

x-x-x

**A.N.: **Any reviews and/or crits are greatly appreciated. :)


	9. Foreboding

**Foreboding**

By the time that it was midday, I was tired. After several hours of swimming and fishing, you tend to feel that way.

Dart and I had caught several small fish, including a Hopper, and one absolutely huge eel-thing that took almost half an hour's worth of tugging and shoving just to get it up the shore of the lake. We were able to get the smaller fish down the hill to the Hive with little trouble, but the big eel... well, let me just say that it isn't easy to roll something of that size down a hill without it slipping from your grip at least once.

By the time we got back, most of the other drones had come back from scouting with more food or hosts. Since the start of the Hive, we had expanded in number. There were now fifteen of us, not including the Matriarch or the eggs.

We all elected to eat the large fish before the others, so I took the smaller ones inside and cocooned them behind a thin layer of chitin. The little ones were allowed to eat first, and then we all – both literally and figuratively – dived onto it.

After I had eaten my fill, I took a chunk of the fish inside the cavern for the Matriarch. She was weaving a little bit more onto the end of the egg sack and didn't notice me until I tapped her with my tail.

_-I got you some food, Matriarch.-_ I said, bowing. She smiled slightly.

_-Thank you, little Scythe,-_ she said. I turned around and went around the eggs carefully, leaving her to her own business.

That night, we found a larval plate worm on the edge of the clearing. Plate worms are armoured quite heavily and can grow up to several metres long. They often appear during the hot season and can cause chaos when they burrow into the chitin. Just imagine climbing up a wall, only to have the chitin that you're sitting on collapse to the floor with you on it.

It wasn't very old; by the look of it, it had only hatched a few days earlier and was about the length of my hand. We threw it away but decided that we should check for any more in the morning, when we were ready and alert.

Just before we all went inside and climbed up onto the walls, I paused to take one last look at the sky. Ever since that night when I saw the Matriarch at the entrance to the cavern, it's been a habit for me to look up at the stars before going to sleep.

I just stood there for a few minutes, not moving and hardly breathing. There were several insects buzzing around up high above my head, glowing faintly in the darkness. In the sky, further up, were more of the pheromone-releasing birds, but tonight they were just swooping gently. No more formations for the moment, it seemed. Even higher than that were objects, no bigger than pebbles, which shone faintly. Several moved faster than others against the sky, but only barely.

Finally, the hypnosis that the night sky held on me was released. I went back inside the cavern, latching onto my own space of wall and getting ready to go to sleep. I saw a bird swoop into the cavern and it sat there for a moment, cleaning its feathers, before one of the little drones grabbed it with its inner jaws and sank its teeth into it. Slowly, my head sank against the chitin wall and I, slowly but surely, lapsed into darkness.

x-x-x

I was fast asleep, but could feel a dream coming on.

Apart from the first time, where the Matriarch had had a nightmare and everybody had felt it, all the other dreams I had had were pleasant. Sometimes they could be scary and other times they were exciting. Mostly they were things that seemed to be made up of old memories, like the chase between me, Stalker and the Alpha Sprint.

Slowly, I could feel myself moving. I wasn't on a wall, instead, I was lying on a smooth and hard surface.

I didn't like it.

The floor was far too cold, smooth and hard, much more so than the chitin or rock. I could barely move my arms, legs, or even my tail, at most being able to flop them around uselessly. _What in the _hell_ is going on?_ I thought briefly

I couldn't see properly, so I used echolocation to check out what my surroundings were like. I was in a small space, about two body-lengths wide and tall. On one side of the room was a flat rectangle of something, while behind me was another rectangle that was on its end and had a seam running along its edges.

I felt groggy and weary, so I tried to move around a little. Somehow, all movement had come back to my limbs and I flexed them, easing out the stiffness. Suddenly, I became enraged. They... those host things had dragged me here, like an insect! I screeched loudly and violently, knowing that they could hear me.

Then everything became a blur and I was running across the damp, marshy ground. It was raining and I was only little, chasing a flying bug the size of my arm. I caught it but then felt pity for the thing and let it go, only to chase it again as soon as it was alright.

Then I was back inside the tiny space, trying to free myself. I was snarling and roaring, throwing myself against one of the spaces with all my might. It started to strain a little, but then I heard them, coming from behind the rectangle. I turned around, snarled, and threw myself at the second rectangle which had now opened. One of the hosts was there and I pummeled straight into it, and before it could scream again I was upon it, hitting it with a barb.

The area outside was the same as the space; a little taller and much longer but it still as unfamiliar and artificial as the space had been. But now there were a great many nooks and crannies that I could hide myself in, and I began to rush as hard as I could away from the space. Suddenly the place I was running in seemed to stretch out to infinity, but the way out was _right there_, in front of me. I stumbled and hit the floor with a crack, realising in the split second before passing out that they had hit me with something...

I came around again in the space. It took me several minutes to get a hold of my bearings this time, but when I looked at the rectangle I sensed that it was bolted shut.

After a few failed attempts at bashing it open, I just went into the centre of the room and curled up, trying to relax. After a few minutes, though, they started to open the rectangle – what I had smashed into the host outside, it had called it a DOOR – and it startled me. I leapt at the DOOR, hissing and shrieking, and they slammed it shut once more. The DOOR's edge caught on my tail blade and crushed the tip, but I simply cracked the end off and pulled it loose. They thought that this was an interesting development, because I then-

-woke up in another space, this one with a strange object in the centre. I stared at it, then realised that it was actually a hunk of meat, and I leapt onto it and tore into it. Then everything went fuzzy again but I managed to throw myself at the DOOR and forced it open...

I woke up with a start, nearly falling off the wall.

I waited there for a few minutes, trying to see if anybody else would wake up. No-one did, but I felt alert. Too alert to fall back to sleep. I shook my head and quietly climbed off of the wall, slinking to the floor. Yawning, I stepped outside the cavern's entrance and into the clearing.

The Sprint that we had captured earlier in the day was now lying flat against the tree, its facehugger now lying cold and dead on the soft ground. I turned away and went out into the trees, going away from the clearing. After a few seconds of debating whether or not to go towards the drop-off or the lake, I started up the gentle slope of the hill.

The night air was cool and quiet, with only a few animal calls in the distance and the faint sounds of some insects flying overhead. But I was thinking about the dream.

Occasionally, because I and the others were drones, we could pick up some of the Matriarch's thoughts. This mainly happened while we were asleep. The only times that I could actually remember the dreams from her was the nightmare and one where she had been wandering the forests.

This dream that had just occurred wasn't as horrible as the nightmare, but it still unnerved me. The creatures that had appeared were bipedal and did not seem to be very strong, and yet... they had objects. Objects that were more lethal than a drone's claws, objects that could knock you out faster than a strike with a tail barb, and it seemed to make them almost – _almost_ – an equal to us.

I simply shook it off. The setting of it had seemed too surreal, even by some other dream's standards. Besides, the Matriarch had not woken up and neither had anybody else. Although, I _had_ felt a slight pull from-

Something pounced onto my back! I screeched in shock, then rolled over and knocked the thing off. The thing was momentarily off guard and I pounced on it, pinning it under me. I hissed, and then began to laugh, releasing my grip on Stalker. It sat up and brushed a few leaves that had stuck onto its back off.

_-You shouldn't do it to me all the time,-_ I said. _-I'm starting to wise up to your little tricks.-_

_-It doesn't matter all that much,-_ Stalker said as we began to walk towards the shore of the lake. _-As far as I'm concerned, the more that I do it to you, the more alert that you'll actually be in an emergency. It makes sense, doesn't it?-_

I shrugged. _-Good point. But I think that it's cruel to do it to the young ones.-_

I looked up at the night sky again. The stars were still glowing faintly and I could see a few insects and birds swooping around in the sky. A swarm of beetles were rising and falling in the gentle breeze that was blowing just ahead of us, and as we got nearer they scattered, heading straight up to the tops of the trees.

_-So than, why are you up so late?-_ I asked. Stalker shrugged.

_-I don't know. I had a strange dream, woke up and felt a little restless.-_

I cocked my head. _-What happened?-_

_-I... I'm not really sure what it meant, but it had a few creatures taunting me and keeping me in a small place.-_ Stalker shrugged._ -I think that it might have been one of the Matriarch's dreams crossing over into mine.-_

_-I think it might have been,-_ I said. Stalker looked over at me.

_-Really? It wouldn't surprise me, but it seemed too surreal to be true at first,-_ Stalker replied. I nodded.

_-That's what I thought. But she wasn't disturbed by it and I wasn't either,-_ I said. _-I wouldn't worry about it unless it occurs again.-_

Stalker and I both nodded, and we continued to walk towards the lake, clawing at some of the insects buzzing around us.

We got to the lake at the section where the old log stood, jutting out of the water. The water was incredibly still, almost as smooth as some of the stones that were near the lake. It was almost startling to look at, because I had never come up here in the dead of night before. Evidently Stalker had, because it just looked at me with a funny expression on its face.

_-What's the matter?-_ Stalker asked. I was clicked out of my trance and turned.

_-Oh, I just haven't seen the lake like this before, that's all.-_ I replied. Stalker shrugged, looking indifferent.

For a while there was silence. After a few moments, I caught sight of a glowing fish darting under the water's surface, just within view. It moved slowly, snaking its body through the water so smoothly that the surface above it wasn't even rippled. It started to move down the shore and I followed it curiously.

_-I'll see you back at the Hive,-_ said Stalker. I nodded and Stalker darted off, heading straight into the trees.

I went back to the glowing fish. It moved surprisingly similarly to a drone, cautiously edging forward as if it was hunting, barely disturbing the silt or the water's surface. I stood up and began to follow it along the bank, keeping close to the edge but not close enough to scare it.

The fish began to quicken. I kept pace with it and managed to get a good look at the size and shape of its body. It was about the length of my arm and shaped more like a snake than a fish, with a long, narrow head and tiny fins that ran up the length of its body. A pair of large teeth was sticking out of its bottom jaw, and a set of large spines ran down its back.

Suddenly, the fish stopped. I was now near the spot where I had fallen into the lake. The rocks at that point stuck out over the water, so I moved a little further out along them to watch the fish. As I watched, I saw a cluster of other fish – about the length of my middle finger – begin to circle around the glowing one.

Then, without warning, the glowing fish struck!

It leapt forward and grabbed one of the tiny fish and tore it in two. The thing twitched violently for a moment and then went limp before both its halves were swallowed whole. A second fish tried to dart away but it was ripped along its side by the glower's tail as it took hold of a third fish and swallowed it in one gulp. The glower completely ignored the injured one and went speeding off after the rest of the group, now very far away, sending up a light spray from the water as it moved.

I watched the glow of the fish until it disappeared into the murky depths of the lake. When it was gone I just sat on top of the rocky outcrop for a few more minutes, looking up at the sky. There wasn't anything interesting up there, so I turned around and started back for the hive cavern.

That was when I discovered the object.

Actually, I nearly missed it as I walked over it, but one of my feet scraped over the top of the object and one of my claws got caught on it. At first I thought that something had grabbed my leg – a brief thought of a big, mightily pissed off Alpha crossed my mind – so I yanked it away and turned around in an attack position, ready to strike at whatever was there. Fortunately, there was nothing there. I relaxed and let down my tail, feeling a little sheepish, but then I looked at the ground and saw what had caught my foot.

It looked like a long, thick vine that snaked its way from the trees to the rock edge, but there was something unusual about it. It looked cooler than the surrounding rock and dirt and I couldn't pick up any pheromones from it, apart from my own and several others that sat on top of it.

Cautiously, I leaned my head closer to the object and pushed it gently with my snout. It got shoved along the dirt slightly but didn't move on its own, in self defence. It felt... it felt like a slightly rotted piece of skin, but it was too cold and soft to be that. I frowned, trying to think of what the thing in front of me was. Was it some kind of creature we hadn't encountered yet? Or was it an egg or egg sack? That seemed to be plausible enough, as each day we found something new in the forests that we hadn't seen before.

I picked up the object and sniffed it. There was a strange smell on it, something artificial and old, but not organic. I put it back down and glanced up both the directions it led. There was something familiar about the object. I had smelt something similar to it before, very recently... the other thing seemed newer but just as artificial.

At first I felt worried, but dismissed the feeling and started back to the hive. I decided that the object was nothing to be worried of, nothing that could pose a risk. The Matriarch had also said that other species had visited our area before, back when she was only a chestburster (funny that, I can't imagine her being that small), and they sometimes left harmless junk lying around. And besides, the object seemed to be ancient. What danger was there with it?

Then a worrying thought hit me: _What if the plate worms were spawning into the chitin?_

I decided that I'd worry about that in the morning. At that moment, all I wanted to do was sleep.

x-x-x

There was darkness.

That was the first thing I was aware of. I just lay where I was, though, not moving. I continued to take slow, steady breaths as I lay down, unable to see anything, the diodes on my chest feeling like they were latched onto me like giant leeches.

The air inside of the tube was cold. I felt my skin begin to rise up with gooseflesh, and I wanted to fidget or move around a little bit to keep warm. But I couldn't. I was still in an artificially induced sleep and, of course, I knew that the cryogenics systems would have to be turned off completely before one could wake up fully.

I only had to wait for a few seconds. It started with a low humming noise that sounded muffled and far away, and it was followed a few seconds later by a faint whirring noise somewhere behind my head. The whirring stopped as abruptly as it had begun but the humming continued in the background.

The darkness began to fade away as a quick series of clicks and buzzes began to echo through the tube. From behind my eyelids I could see that it was getting brighter and brighter, until I could see a comfortable orange haze beyond. The light intensified slowly and then came to a halt.

Nothing happened.

I heard a set of gears behind my head start to grind and then I felt the top of the tube rise away from my face, followed by the metal seal that held it in place. A wave of cold air – impossibly colder than the air inside the tube, I thought – swept in and my skin broke out in gooseflesh again, and then the opening procedure finished and the place went relatively quiet again.

After a few seconds, I began to open my eyelids. Immediately I felt the need to shut them and block out the harsh, invading light from above, but I didn't. Instead, I began to sit up slowly, rubbing my eyes and yawning.

I almost fell backwards as I sat up. Being in long-haul sleep tends to stiffen the muscles and joints, so it can take a while to get used to. Just think of it as the hangover from hell coupled with the aftermath of a hardcore running marathon and you're about halfway there. Anyway, I stopped myself from falling by sticking my arm behind me and used it to keep myself propped up. There was a brief pulsing in my head but it began to die down almost immediately.

'Ow, god _damnit!_' yelled someone from across the tubes. I managed to hold back a chuckle but a few of the others couldn't.

'Ah, be a man, Geordie,' said a soldier across from me. I looked up and saw that he was sitting with his legs hung over the edge of his cryotube. He rubbed the back of his neck and then nodded at me.

'Hey,' he said. I nodded back and tried to stand up but dizziness swept over my head and I collapsed back onto the edge of the cryotube.

'Whoa, you'd better watch that,' said a voice from in front of me. I looked up and saw the major of the group, Frank Pitt, in front of me. 'Is this your first long-haul trip or something?'

I shook my head. 'No... I just got a headache and I feel a little disoriented, that's all.'

Pitt nodded, then began to walk alongside all of the cryotubes. For some reason, unlike the rest of us, he didn't have a hangover and looked like he was practically _enjoying_ himself. He was an older guy, about 45 or 50 years old, and he had a small scar that ran down the back of his left hand. It looked more like a strip of discoloured skin than anything.

'C'mon now, ladies, I know that you're tougher than that!' he boomed. 'We've got a job to do. You all know what you signed up for when you joined the Corps now, didn't you? It's a new day and I'm loving it!'

'I'm not,' said someone further down the line, and the sergeant gave a low chuckle before continuing down the front of the tubes.

I could feel the air begin to get a little warmer. That made me relax a little, getting rid of that horrible freezing feeling from the air being still for so long. Trust me when I say this; sitting inside the cryogenics bay of a navy ship in your underwear is not a pleasant experience. I peeled the monitoring diodes off my chest and arms and stood up, stretching and cracking my joints.

'Morning, Luce,' said Brennan as he walked over to his locker. The marines were now mostly up and awake, joking with one another and getting ready for the days ahead. Some of my fellow scientists were at their own lockers as well, so I headed over to them. In contrast to what I had felt earlier, I was now prepped up and jittery with excitement.

After all, it's not every day that you get to study a new, uncharted world.

x-x-x

**A.N.: **Ah, so the plot thickens... heh heh. As usual, review and/or crits are fully welcome. Thanks!


	10. Discovery

**Discovery**

_-Scythe, what's wrong?-_ asked Stalker, tearing a pouch of plate worm larva off a tree.

_-...sorry? What did you say?-_ I said, slightly bewildered. I had been concentrating hard on ripping away several of the plate worm pouches and Stalker's question caught me off guard. Stalker sighed as it spat a glob of blood onto the pouch and threw it away.

_-You seem a little... wound up. You're more quiet and intense than you usually are,-_ Stalker said. I almost laughed, thinking it was a joke, but stopped when I saw the look on Stalker's face. It was being serious, which was unmistakable. I shrugged, feeling a stinging in my throat as I spat blood onto the plate worm pouch in my hands. I threw it away and noticed that one of the larvae was crawling up my hand. I quickly squashed it.

_-It's... it's nothing,-_ I said. -_I've just been thinking...-_

_-About what?-_ asked Stalker.

_-I found something up near the lake. You know how the Matriarch talks about the other creatures that sometimes leave junk here?-_ I asked. Stalker nodded.

_-You found something that you think might have come from them,-_ Stalker said. _–So _that_, above all things, is what you're worried about?-_

I shook my head. -_I think so. There was just something about it that... it made me feel unsafe, concerned for the hive, all those things.-_

Stalker nodded and then went back to dissolving the pouches.

It was getting close to midday, and both myself and Stalker had decided to check for signs of plate worm infestation. As it turned out, there actually had been an infestation, but it wasn't very serious. We managed to find about four growing worms in the chitin (already growing large, bloated and pulpy), and then discovered where they were coming from. That was why we were a short distance from the clearing, spitting blood onto the worm's eggs before they could hatch.

Stalker finished with the last pouch on its tree, and then scanned around for any others. It turned back to me as I finished melting the final one in my hands. We had cleared about twelve trees so far, and that meant that the spawning season was getting closer and closer. It was the fifth time this month that we had had to clear the filthy little things away.

_-Okay, tell me what you're thinking,-_ I said to Stalker. You see, whenever Stalker gets an idea, it gets a little quiet and sits there, waiting for you to finish what you're currently doing. Right now Stalker had a smile plastered across its face.

_-Well, seeing as the infestation has already been cleared, why not check out what the object was?-_ Stalker said. _-We just go up to where it is, investigate, and if it's anything to worry about, we just tell the Matriarch. Simple.-_

I felt a grin seep up onto my face. -_I always knew that you'd need somebody with you to keep you from getting scared,-_ I said. Stalker shot me a mock glare.

_-Practice what you preach, my friend,-_ Stalker said back with a chuckle before darting off towards the lake, with me close behind.

x-x-x

_-Hey! Hey! Over here!-_ yelled Dart from the lake. I stopped and looked. Dart was on the back of a monster eel, wrestling playfully with it. The eel was roaring with frustration, trying to throw its aggressor off, but Dart just kept its grip on the thing. As the eel leapt out a second time, I saw that Brute and Whiplash were also gripping it and stinging it with their tails.

_-Do... do you mind giving... giving us a _little_ help with this... with this thing?-_ said Dart, being pushed under the water continuously. Wordlessly, I got ready and dived into the lake.

The water was cool and flowed past my body smoothly as I swam towards the eel. Dart was thrown off and the eel snapped at its tail, but Dart soon got a hold of its head and held tight. I swam up close and kept a short distance from the battle.

Silt was being kicked up by the churning water and there was a fog of bubbles all throughout the water, making it seethe and foam even more. The bubbles were disrupting my echolocation and I could barely make out the pheromone signatures through the water. Anxiously, I tried to call out to the drones keeping hold of the thing, but they obviously couldn't hear me.

Suddenly, the eel turned left and shot through the water with frightening speed, staying on the surface. It plowed head-on into a cluster of boulders and dislodged them violently, sending them tumbling into the abyss of the lake. The drones were thrown off the thing's slippery scales one by one and they floated in the water as the eel sped off, still thrashing. I watched it leave, bewildered, then headed for the surface.

The water was still bubbling lightly, but now I could see clearly again! I headed to where Dart, Brute and Whiplash were climbing out of the water, in a daze. I followed them up the slope of rock to the solid land and shook the water off my hide.

_-Now _that_ was really something,-_ said Stalker. There were a few rivulets of water running down its face and back. Brute simply nodded and Whiplash shook its head.

_-Ooh...-_ it said, _-Everyone, make a mental note. We _never_ hunt those things_ _ever again.-_

_-Why not?-_ I asked. Stalker nodded.

_-I mean, you could always try stinging it into submission...-_

_-We tried that,-_ said Dart, swaying slightly on its feet. -_It passed out at least three minutes before you arrived. The thing had a distributed nervous system, and we couldn't take all of the nerve endings out...-_

I looked back out at the lake and saw the eel, _still_ thrashing about in the water and acting like it was trying to fend off attackers! I shook my head.

_-Mental note taken,-_ I said. We all chuckled and talked for a few minutes, and then Brute and Whiplash went back down to the beach to collect the fish that had already been caught. When they were gone, Dart looked at both Stalker and I questioningly.

_-So... why are you two up here? Weren't you clearing the plate worm eggs?-_ Dart asked. I nodded.

_-Yes, but there were less of them around than we initially thought. We got all the pouches, and then...-_

I stopped and looked to where I had found the object. It was about twenty metres away, still draped over the pinnacle of rock that stuck out over the water. Just as it had appeared at night, the object stood out against its surroundings, but now it was hotter than the surrounding earth. Dart looked at me, leaning over into my field of vision.

_-Er... you were saying?-_ it said. I shook myself quickly.

_-Oh, right. I found something last night and we decided to come back up to investigate,-_ I said. Dart seemed to freeze up when I said that.

_-...last night?-_ it asked. I nodded.

_-I had a strange dream and came up here to look around,-_ Stalker said. -_Scythe came up a few minutes later and we looked around, before I went back down to the hive cavern.-_

_-...okay, now this is getting strange,-_ Dart said. -_I had some kind of dream last night, too... a bunch of these two-legged things, like hosts... they attacked the hive and captured everybody, including the Matriarch. Almost everybody was killed and they kept me in a small space, and there was no light and I couldn't see a thing and then...-_

Dart stopped. Stalker looked over at me, frowning.

_-It's definitely one of the Matriarch's memories,-_ said Stalker. -_Look, let's just see what the object is and then report it to here, shall we?-_

I nodded, beginning to relax. -_Of course.-_

Dart looked up and was immediately back to its normal, happy self. -_Sorry about that, I just... it was stressful, and I didn't think about it being from the Matriarch-_

_-We know,-_ said Stalker, and we began to move up to the object.

x-x-x

The thing in the dirt was much more visible now that it was day.

The parts that were exposed in the sun were glowing gently with heat, and I could see something poking out of its soft coating in places. It looked like metal (there was quite a bit of it in and around the cavern) and appeared to be made of several different strips of it entwined around each other.

_-Now that is odd,-_ said Dart, following the object into the trees. It wasn't glowing as brightly in the shade but was still clearly visible. It was covered with small mosses and lichens, as well as the odd sprout that was growing on top, and looked much mouldier and rotted than the section sitting where I was. I stayed out in the sun to examine it.

_-I've never seen anything like this before,-_ said Stalker. It bent over and sniffed the object, then bit down on it gently. Suddenly, Stalker reeled away, trying to spit the taste out of its mouth.

_-Urgh! It's horrible! Definitely not alive!-_ Stalker spat. I chuckled.

_-Tell me about it. It's like rotting wood, isn't it?-_

Stalker nodded. -_There's something not right about it, though... it feels almost familiar. Does it lead to anywhere in the water?-_ it asked. I went to the edge and peered out.

The object was plastered to the rock in several places, and one section swayed limply in the breeze about a metre off the water. It looked almost like a caterpillar crawling down a twig. At several points – mostly where it was stuck to the rock – I could see that parts of the object's "skin" had melted onto the rock and then come loose, leaving dark stains behind. The end of it was frayed in several spots, with some of the metal inside poking out in different directions like a pile of old branches.

I went back over to where Stalker was sitting. It had now picked the thing up and was seeing how heavy it was, as well as examining it more thoroughly.

_-It doesn't lead anywhere. Maybe it just fell or got dropped down here, and was left where it was. Do you think that?-_ I asked. Stalker put it down and looked up at a few birds roosting, and then back at me.

_-I think that's likely,-_ Stalker replied. It sighed, and then looked back up at the birds. There were several Swoopers sitting in their nests, guarding their massive eggs that were about the size of a fist. I looked at the eggs and began to feel hungry. Swoopers are large birds, about the size of a fully grown drone, and are excellent at defending their territory, hence the name. But the eggs... they are a treat. The Swoopers that were in the tree were asleep, making them easy targets.

_-Oh well. Maybe we'll just investigate it again if we find anything similar,-_ I said, shrugging. Stalker nodded and then poked the object with its tail.

_-Hey, as long as I don't have to _eat_ this thing, I'm happy,-_ it said with distaste. I chattered to myself, causing one of the Swoopers to rustle its feathers and then continue to roost. Stalker chuckled as well, and then began to head towards the trees. I followed, but stayed back slightly.

That was when we heard the tumbling and rustling in the trees.

The Swoopers woke up, began to hoot, and then saw us. They immediately flared their wings and began to screech loudly, trying to scare us off, but it never worked. Stalker screeched with annoyance and then looked in the direction of the rustling and crashing.

_-...I am going to kill Dart,-_ he said flatly. I didn't feel the same way; with Dart, you see, you need to forgive any little character flaws and forget about it. There is _always_ food around. Besides, because our Hive was in the middle of a sprawling, thriving jungle, food was never in short supply.

Dart burst out of the trees at such high speed, and with such suddenness, that it stumbled as it hit the ground and lost its footing, rolling along like a rock down a hill. Dart knocked up a small cloud of dust and was then on its feet, jittery and excited. Stalker and I just stared at it.

_-I-I'm sorry about the entrance but there's some... I found something! I found where the thing attaches to! I got-_

_-You what?-_ said Stalker, cutting off Dart's sentence. -_Slow down, you're speaking too fast again...-_

_-I found it,-_ Dart said. It looked excited, almost comically so, with its arms stretched out wide and a huge, infectious grin plastered on its face. I cocked my head.

_-You found... you found what, exactly?-_ I asked. Dart grinned even wider, which at that point seemed almost impossible.

_-I found where it leads to! I found where the thing leads to! I found it! Come on, come look! Come on!-_ Dart said, moving towards the trees and looking back at us eagerly. At that point I was intrigued and began to follow, trying to keep up with Dart. Stalker just grinned and shook its head mockingly, and then went in after us.

The trees here were closely packed together and had thick, old trunks. I guessed that they had gotten to that stage because the Sprints hadn't gotten up here to pull them down. The ground was literally coated with shrubs, bushes and small saplings, yet Dart was able to stay ahead of me and was going through the bushes with ease. I wasn't, so I hopped up onto the nearest tree trunk and began to go forward.

Around that area the ground was level, and I could see Dart moving back and forth along the ground like he was following a fresh scent. Stalker didn't get up onto the trees and looked up at me, grinning madly.

_-Ah, shut up,-_ I said jokingly.

_-Can't do it if I don't speak,-_ Stalker said back.

We were about ten metres from the lake when the ground began to slope downward at a light angle. The trees were slightly less packed together, but the bushes and shrubs still covered the ground like parasites. The canopy was thicker and less light was coming through to the ground as a result, but it didn't affect our seeing ability.

As we got to the rim of the slope, Dart began to move more slowly and carefully. I hopped off the tree I was on and approached. Dart moved to the left, moving again like a creature on the scent of its prey, and went down. Suddenly Dart stopped and began to point at a pile of old wood further down the slope.

_-There it is, there!-_ Dart said proudly. I looked at the dead trees and saw a part of the object sticking out of the leaves and dirt, heading straight into the heart of the wood pile. Eagerly, I moved towards the pile, with Dart and Stalker following.

_-What do you think is in there? Ah... I think that there's going to be_ _more of those things. They look like snakes, did you know that?-_ said Dart.

_-No, we never thought the thing looked like a snake,-_ said Stalker flatly. Dart turned around and looked at Stalker, making it laugh.

We began to move down the slope. The first thing that struck me about the wood pile as we got closer was that it was made up of about seven trees, all of them snapped at their bases. The trunks were now rotted and were lying across the thing underneath like long, fat snakes that-

I took a second look at the trees.

For about sixteen metres behind the pile, the trees got lower and lower until it finally came to the dead trunks. Two of them were dead but the others had already grown their branches back. What was odd, though, was that they went down in a straight line, almost as if the trees were being pressed down by some kind of invisible force.

Almost as if something had _smashed_ straight through their tops.

We approached the rotted trees cautiously. The object wasn't lying completely flat on the ground here, but instead rose up slightly and went straight into the middle of the wood pile. I poked it and it waved back and forth stiffly, dislodging some old chunks of bark.

_-So... what happens now?-_ I asked. Dart shrugged and climbed on top of the wood pile.

_-I guess that we just check to see if this is where it ends,-_ Dart said. -_Or we could alway-_

The log that Dart was standing on suddenly broke away with a wet cracking sound! Dart let out a short _scree_ of surprise and then landed on something – perhaps a boulder or something else that was hard – and stopped falling.

But before it could react, there was a loud, creaking groan that came directly from where Dart was sitting!

Dart looked around for a second, confused, and then the thing it was sitting on collapsed with a loud, creaking squeal! Dart just managed to leap away as the thing gave way and slammed into the ground, being sent sprawling. There was a series of loud thuds and then a huge _clang_ that seemed to reverberate through the area, and then everything was still.

_-...wow,-_ I said. Stalker and I rushed over to Dart who was now jittery and shaking slightly.

_-Are you alright?-_ said Stalker. Dart nodded and flexed its back.

_-Yes, I'm fine... I was just surprised,-_ Dart said. It looked back at the objects. -_There's something underneath the trees and wood.-_

_-We have to check it out and then report it to the Matriarch,-_ I said. At that point I started to get an awful sense of Déjà vu, and I didn't like it.

A while back I and Whiplash had discovered an area full of skeletons and half-rotted Sprints. It was hidden by a thick canopy and absolutely no light was shining through. As we watched, an old and feeble Sprint had come along and lain down in the middle of the place. After a few minutes... it died. This area was similar, but not quite... I felt as if there was something that had lain hidden for generations and hadn't been disturbed for just as long.

Stalker moved up one of the logs that was splayed out across the top of the thing; the log wobbled and sagged underneath the weight of the drone, but it held strong. Stalker looked down at the hole that Dart had made and then looked back down at us.

_-The rest of this thing looks secure,-_ Stalker said. _–You just picked a bad spot to rest, Dart.-_

_-Right,-_ said Dart. _–So, are we going to look at the inside of the thing or what?-_

Stalker nodded. _–I guess so. It looks to be about the same size as the hatchling's area of the cavern, but it looks like the object goes all the way inside this thing. Come on up, I guarantee that it's safe.-_

I shrugged and began to head up to where Stalker was. A few times I heard a loud splintering noise from the log and braced myself for its collapse, but it didn't do that. I got to the top and looked into the hole, trying to get a good look at anything that was dangerous inside. I couldn't see anything, and looked over at Stalker.

_-Looks safe enough,-_ I said. Stalker chuckled.

_-Do you want me to make sure that there's no scary monster in there?-_ it said mockingly. I shot Stalker a false glare and then edged towards the hole, making sure that the thing was really secure. The edges of the hole looked rotted and splintered, which could have accounted as to why it was weak. I could tell that the thing was made up of several different metals, all fused together. But there was an order to it, almost like how we would set up the chitin of the Hive.

I took one look around and dropped into the hole.

x-x-x

I hit the floor with a loud _clang_ which echoed across the inside of the object.

The air was cold and musty, tasting of rot; I nearly gagged as I took the first breath but managed to regain my composure. There was no trace of any pheromones or recent heat signatures, so I had to use my echolocation to see around.

The space I had fallen into was big, nearly twice the size of what it had appeared to be on the surface. There was a large, rectangular object in the centre of the space, and it seemed to have slammed into the wall opposite from me. Mould and dust covered the entire space in a layer as thick as my arm, and I could make out a pool of stagnant water at the other wall. The entire place was on a slight slant as well.

I looked up at Stalker and Dart, who were hovering around the entrance of the hole.

_-Is it safe?-_ said Stalker. I nodded and then moved out of the way so that my two fellow drones could hop down. Stalker didn't react to the air as badly as I had, possibly because it may have thinned out because of the hole. Dart recoiled slightly as it sniffed, but quickly recovered.

_-Urgh, that was bad,-_ Dart said, peering around the space. _–It smells worse than the back of the Cavern.-_

_-Agreed,-_ I said, and I swiped a bit of dust off a ledge beside me. It was half-solid and crumbled apart in my hands, releasing a disgusting goop as it did. I wiped my hand on the floor grating and turned back to Stalker.

_-So, any ideas as to what this thing is?-_ I said. Stalker thought for a moment and then shook its head.

_-It doesn't look like anybody's touched this place in years,-_ said Dart, and it moved to a small rectangle set in the wall to my right. I went towards it as well, and then froze.

I remembered the dream from last night: the host creatures had kept me in a small enclosed space. There had been a rectangle – _that's right,_ I thought, _the DOOR_ – and they had used it to enter the room several times... and at that moment, I realised that I was looking straight at a near identical DOOR to the one in the dream.

It was covered in mould and had two holes punched into it, but there was no mistaking it for what it was.

Stalker looked at me, almost having read my thoughts. _–Is that what I think it is?-_ Stalker asked. I nodded.

_-I think so,-_ I managed to say. Dart turned around and looked at us, then shrugged.

_-Hey, even if this did belong to those host things, I don't think that they're still alive,-_ Dart said. The unease went away like an ebbing wave and I felt reassured. We _had_ found other artifacts like this one before, and it was no different.

Dart got to the DOOR and began to look over it, paying particular attention to the holes. There was one on the upper right corner that was about the size of a tongue-punch, and the second was in the middle. Unlike the first hole, this one was about the size of a fist and had its edges pointing outwards. Dart looked at it and then grabbed it with its hands, tugging as hard as it could. The hole widened slightly and there was a groaning sound similar to the one from when the hole had opened.

_-Dart, step back for a second,- _Stalker sighed, and stiffened up slightly. Dart moved away and, in a flash, Stalker charged at the DOOR with a loud screech, slamming into it bodily. The DOOR shuddered and one whole side was ripped off its hinges, slamming into the side of the space beyond.

_-So, are you coming?-_ said Stalker as it began to walk inside... and then it stopped, mid stride. I walked up to where Stalker was standing and looked over its shoulder.

_-Stalker, what's wron-_ I began, and then stopped.

The space in front of us was small, only about a metre and a half wide and three long, but it was packed with bodies. It went down at a slope and had two odd looking things on its left side, covered in something that might have been an animal skin but were now so heavily rotted that it was impossible to tell.

The roof of it had several deep cracks and lacerations running across it, and the front had been punched it. As a result, the front was mostly flooded with dirt which had several thick roots growing out of it.

I felt my hearts freeze as I saw the husk lying on the floor in front of us. It... it was the body of a drone! It had been dead for a long time and was stuck in a rigid position, looking like a dry skin husk. Cracks and holes ran along its body, as well as a big one at the join of the skull and neck. I could just barely make out the endoskeleton through the shell-like remains.

_-...they were trying to fight back,-_ said Dart, completely stunned. I felt so sad, so upset for the drone in front of us. It had died only trying to protect its Hive and possibly its Matriarch. But more than that, I could feel anger swelling up inside me. Those hosts, how _dare_ they kill a drone for doing only what it was meant to do!

_-I'll go and survey the rest of the place,-_ Stalker said, and it moved away from the DOOR. I headed further into the space.

A little further on, I saw another skeleton. But this one was oddly shaped. It had no exoskeleton anywhere on its body and appeared to be no more than a jumbled, fragile pile of bones. Then I looked closer and saw that it was in the shape of the hosts from the dream.

The host's skeleton was draped in the remains of more animal skins that had been rotted away from the moisture over the years. It had a strange carapace plate on its chest that covered only the chest and shoulders. There were a few other, similar plates on the legs and elbows, but they looked useless at being able to repel a full-fledged assault.

I looked down its right arm and saw one of its weapons. It looked like the host had been defending itself from the drone as it attacked. I looked at the skeleton's skull and saw that the surface was charred and rough... almost as if it had been sprayed with the drone's blood. I smirked a little at that.

A little further ahead of the host's skeleton, propped up in one of the strange objects, were the remains of another host. This one was slumped over, held only in place by an object shaped like an X. This skeleton was missing its lower arms (they had fallen off and landed on the floor) and a great number of fractures were running across its bones.

There wasn't anything interesting in there, so I turned around and went back out into the larger space. Stalker was crouched over by the husks of two other drones, looking over them sadly. I felt the mix of emotions again – sadness and some anger – and then went over to it. Stalker looked up and stretched, yawning slightly.

_-Nothing interesting in there?-_ Stalker asked. I shook my head.

_-No. There were two dead hosts. It looks like the drone killed them.-_

_-It would make sense,-_ said Stalker, shrugging slightly. It turned back up to the hole in the roof, were Dart was.

_-I think that we should get going,-_ Stalker said. _–Maybe we should see if the other plate worms are nearby.-_

_-Okay then,-_ I said. Believe me when I say this, but I absolutely _hate_ the pests around the Hive. Plate worms are the worst, but then there are the Whistling Beetles. I used to have a taste for them back when I was a young one, but not anymore. They're basically like the mosquitoes that attack some of the other creatures around.

Stalker crouched and leapt at the ceiling, latching on with its fore claws and pulling itself out of the hole. Just as I was about to, it stopped and looked back at me with an all-too familiar grin on its face.

_-I forgot to mention: last one back to the area has to eat the first plate worm pouch,-_ said Stalker, and then it was off. Dart looked down at me with a "sorry, friend" face, and then bounded after Stalker. I cursed and prepared to jump... and then stopped. Slowly, I turned around to the wall opposite.

There were several objects stacked up against the wall. It looked like a few of them had been tossed around by something, maybe an impact or an earthquake. There were six of them, all covered in the mouldy dust and sitting in the soupy water. They were square shaped and had holes punched through their sides.

It was the scent coming from the crate nearest to me, though, that caught my attention.

It might have been an updraft of the old air being sucked out that made me catch it, but it didn't matter. As I had been preparing to leap up, I had smelled something familiar. Usually if I see or smell something that I've only encountered a few times, it takes me a while to remember what it is.

But there was no mistaking this one.

I approached the square thing slowly, looking at it and studying it as closely as I could. It was made up of two square panels on the top and bottom, connected by four more panels. These panels were made of closely entwined metal strips in a thick mesh, and one side had been punched through.

_No, no, there's no way... it's not possible,_ I thought to myself. Slowly, cautiously, I leaned in towards the ruined side and sniffed hesitantly. That was when my disbelief went straight out the window. There was no doubt in my mind now. Shaking and trembling with both confusion and excitement, I back away towards the hole.

The square object had been lined with a scent that was faint and old, but still distinct.

It was the pheromone scent of the Matriarch.

x-x-x

**A.N.:** Any reviews and/or crits are welcomed, as always. :)


	11. Survey

**Survey  
**

**USS _Conrad_, USCM  
****High orbit around LV-453  
****22-05-2245, 11.45 a.m.**

'Hey there, Luce,' said one of the marines, Paul "Mace" Mason, as he walked past. Unlike a few of the others he wasn't intimidating, either by intention or not. I looked up feebly, trying to stop my eyes and head from aching, and then let my head sink back into my hands. Concerned, he put down the tray of food and came over to me.

'Luce, are you alright?' he said, patting me on the shoulder. I looked up again, nodded, and tried to smile. I only managed a grimace and the marine nodded sympathetically.

'I know how you feel. It usually goes away after a while,' he said. 'Do you want some aspirin or something?'

'No thanks, Mace. I've already had one. I'm fine,' I said huskily. Mace nodded and picked up his tray before heading back over to where the other marines were sitting and laughing.

Trust me when I say this: hypersleep is the bane of my existence. It's just a royal pain in the ass to go through when on long-haul voyages, and that's _without_ the annoying side-effects. Basically, you get shoved into a tiny tube, have to get freezing diodes latched onto your skin, and then you get drugged into a coma-like state for the rest of the trip. Because of the drugs, waking up can be a very difficult process.

Not pleasant, indeed.

That's why I was sitting there, at one of the smaller mess tables, trying to take my mind of the aching throb of my head and the stiffness of my eyes. I'd already taken two aspirin and they were taking an unusual amount of time to work. I had gotten a little bit of food, just some bread and a box of juice, but I'd barely touched it, preferring to poke at it like an old boot that a kid out fishing has just reeled in.

I guess that you'll want to know what is going on. My name is Lucille Cameron, although most of the people I know call me Luce. I'm a biologist that specializes in the study of xenofauna and flora; in other words, I examine alien plants and animals. I don't really know why but there's something exciting about getting to go to new, almost completely uncharted places and getting to study them. That could be the reason why I even bother going through the entire hypersleep process.

So far I've been involved in the study of about six worlds. Two of them are having their atmosphere processors and facilities set up, and a third is already at the colonisation stage. Though, it can be _very_ dull to get to a planet and discover that it's only a bare rock, with no identifiable life forms past the microbe stage. I swear, on almost every expedition so far, both I and the others have ended up being spare wheels.

The world that's being colonised had a fair diversity of plants... but hardly any animals larger than a rat. My job is the classic example of a double-edged sword: at times exciting and rewarding, but at other times both dull and tedious in good measure. And there you have it. That's the last fifteen years of my life in a nutshell.

'Still got the headache?' said one of the other researchers, Chris Harriet, as she sat down next to me. I managed a nod and then tried to eat my food.

'Urgh... I hate this stuff,' said one of the marines, Kirby, with distaste. I looked over and saw that she'd eaten everything in her tray except for something that looked like a pile of dehydrated mushrooms.

'Oh, come on Kirby,' said Treadwell, sitting across the table from her. 'Half of this stuff isn't bad.'

'Oh yeah?' she retorted, 'Have a try at eating some of that and tell me that it tastes good. I dare you.'

Treadwell seemed to think for a moment and then shrugged, going back to picking through his meal. Kirby smirked and most of the other marines began to chuckle.

'They're more bored of the trip than we are,' said Cam Garland as he sat down across the table from me. I still didn't feel hungry and kept poking the slices of bread sitting on my tray.

'Tell me about it,' I said. I pushed the tray away and arched my back, cricking it.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you,' Garland said as he took a sip from his juice carton. 'Cracking your joints weakens them. They already proved that with your finger-'

'Wait, doesn't it give you arthritis?' said Perkins from the marine's table. Garland grinned and shook his head, his hair waving back and forth like a wet mop.

'Nup. You've got it wrong. No arthritis but a much weaker grip. I think that if you crack your knuckles twice a day for several years, you won't be able to twist the cap off a sauce bottle,' he said. Perkins gave a thoughtful nod and then stood up to put the food tray away.

'You're such a know-it-all, Cam,' said Martin Brasco. Garland just shrugged and grinned a second time.

'I know I am. I get paid to be one, so I can't let it down for a second,' he said. I snorted and laughed softly, nearly squirting water through my nose. This made the others crack up at the same time. By that point the headache had slowed down considerably and was now just a faint throbbing that felt far off.

'Anyway,' I began, taking a small bite of the bread. 'Let's talk about the survey. Has anybody gone down to the planet before?'

Brasco shrugged. 'I think that there may have been a survey a few years back. I can't be sure, though. I know that an expedition was going over this system and studying the worlds, but then the main ship was hit by an asteroid and most of the crew died.'

'Shit...' muttered Harriet. She had a forkful of egg hovering in front of her face and stared at Brasco in shock. Brasco nodded and took another sip of water, wiping his mouth.

'I know. Apparently though, the rest of the crew managed to get back safely. Everything got sorted out within a few months and the families of the dead crew were compensated by the Company.' He shrugged. 'I might have looked over the file once or twice, but that was a while ago.'

'So... do they know anything about the planets because of the survey?' I asked. Brasco smiled and nodded.

'Yeah. The first one we're going to is a jungle world. Not many oceans but lots of rivers and lakes, as well as a hot temperature all year long.'

I nodded, grinning slightly. Garland sighed, put down his knife and fork, and stood up, cracking his back. Perkins glanced over at him and spoke before I could.

'Hey, watch it. You'll get a weaker back,' he said. Garland smirked.

'I was talking about cracking your knuckles, wasn't I?' he said, and Perkins gave him a smile and the finger. Garland grinned broadly and went off to the lockers.

'Hey. I call dibs on naming the first animal,' said Harriet. I opened my mouth to protest but she shook her head at me, wagging her finger. I turned to Brasco for support, but he just shook his head as well.

'Sorry, Luce. You got to name the dragonfly without wings last time,' he said. I pouted but he remained resolute.

'…damn,' I muttered. Harriet patted me on the back and I feigned a heart attack.

x-x-x

After about ten minutes, breakfast was over and everyone went to get changed into our uniforms.

On most missions, there are some differences between the uniforms that the scientists and the marines have to wear. The main difference is the camouflage design. Usually the scientists have an olive green and tan design, which isn't as detailed as the marines. The reason being for this is that the scientists are mostly observers, and they don't have to go tramping through the deserts, forests or swamplands with the others.

For this mission, things were different. Most of our work was going to be done through treks over the landscape and collecting samples of the local flora and fauna, and because of this we were wearing near identical uniforms to the marines.

The camouflage drab on out clothes was a dark grey, mottled with light brown and different shades of green. I noticed that the shirt was much lighter than the standard ones that we had to wear as I put it on. Most of the marines weren't putting on their jackets and shirts, preferring to stay in their tanks. Garland and I looked on at them incredulously as they headed off to the cargo bay for the debriefing.

'Don't they feel the cold?' I asked, puzzled.

'Pretty obvious answer there, Luce. They don't,' he said. I bit my lip and tried not to laugh, but he continued. 'These guys were probably found on an off-world survey, and they've been on the ship ever since. I guess you could sa-'

'Ah, shut up,' said Brasco as he fastened his watch and rolled up his sleeves. I heard Harriet giggling nearby and I rolled my eyes.

'You two are just like children, you know that?' I said. Garland shrugged and adjusted his glasses, running his fingers through his hair.

'Alright then, are you people ready for the debriefing?' said a firm voice from the end of the lockers. I looked up and saw the Major, Frank Pitt, standing there with his arms crossed. I stood up straight and nodded, and the others did the same. His lieutenant Peter Sutherland was standing behind him with his hands behind his back. Both were wearing their uniforms and had a level of authority about them.

'We're ready, sir,' said Garland. Pitt nodded and uncrossed his arms.

'Alright, then. Follow us out to the main bay,' he said. 'Just follow me to the front, but you don't have to stand up like you're in regimentation.'

Pitt had a hard but warm face, if that makes any sense. He was about my height and had a thin goatee on his chin, which made him look a little younger than he actually was. Along with the short crew cut and the steely brown eyes, Pitt looked like the kind of military leader that could reduce the barracks bully to a whimpering puppy with no effort.

Peter Sutherland, on the other hand, was considerably younger than Pitt. He had a young, angular face that was clean shaven and was taller than Garland, who was about six foot. He always showed no sign of his emotions unless he was off duty, when he suddenly became cheerful, funny and engaging. I'd learned that if there was a thing to be done during an assignment, he seemed to focus all of his attention and strength on it until it was done. In that sense he was like a workaholic.

Pitt turned around and walked out of the locker room, both Sutherland and the rest of us following him. We went through the cryo-room, which now looked like the inside of an insects nest with the empty pods, and across the vacant mess hall. Pitt turned right and walked down a short corridor that led to the main bay of the ship.

Even though I'd seen the bay just before the start of the voyage, the sheer scale of it still amazed me. It was about four stories high and the length of two football fields, and it matched it in width. The sheer size was meant to accommodate the two dropships that were kept in the hanger, as well as four hydraulic power-loaders to move around the heaviest materials. At the back of the bay was a small garage for two armoured personnel carriers, as well as having all of the materials necessary to keep them in perfect running condition and for repairs.

The marines were crowded around near the corridor that we had just exited. A bunch of heavy industrial crates, as well as a few chrome benches, had been gathered there. The marines were just talking and messing around about things in general, but most of them were seated and waiting for the sergeant to arrive.

'Officer on deck!' yelled Sutherland as he walked in behind Pitt. The two marines that were standing – they looked like Mace and Treadwell mock-fighting – immediately saluted and sat back down on the crate-bench display as Pitt stood up in front of them. Short he may have been, but Pitt had a level of authority about him that everybody obeyed and respected. I and the others shuffled in and stood next to the marines. As I was standing there I saw Perkins look over and give me a thumbs-up before mouthing "don't sweat it".

That's what it looked like, at least.

'At ease, marines,' Pitt said. The marines loosened up and resumed their positions on the crates. Pitt looked out over them and smiled.

'Okay then, marines,' he began, 'As I am sure you all know this is just a standard survey mission. We are going to shuttle in to the planet's surface and study it, to see it as being fit to colonise. Our job is to be the bodyguards of the scientists that have joined us and to assist them in any way that we can.'

Three people laughed. I got what they were laughing at but it seemed childish, so I didn't join in. One of the marines raised their hand.

'I have a question, Major,' he said. Pitt nodded.

'Okay. Seeing as we're going to be escorting the scientists around the planet, do we know about any of the plants and wildlife down there? I mean, it could end up being like the LV-426 incident if we aren't prepared.'

I smiled a little at that. Everyone knows about the incident on LV-426. Basically, a squad of marines went out to investigate the colony there and accidentally triggered the atmosphere processor to overload. This was a few decades back and it's since become a nice bit of urban legend out in space. But what very few people know that the marines had actually encountered an indigenous creature on the planet. There was an ensuing firefight inside the processor, in which the cooling systems were ruptured and eventually the entire colony was destroyed.

Pitt nodded. 'Yes, there was a previous survey expedition in '42. They managed to take some readings of the planet's surface, but the mission was cut short when the main ship was struck by a meteor shower. One of the dropships crashed and the people inside it were killed.'

Pitt paused. 'I wouldn't worry about the life on the surface, though. Most of the animals down there are just aggressive herbivores, and nothing more. There aren't any lethal plants either.'

'Another question, sir,' said the marine. 'Do you mind defining the words "aggressive herbivore"?'

'Well, in this case it means "dinosaur-like creature that acts like a mad bull",' Pitt chuckled in reply. The marines laughed at this, but I immediately perked up with interest. Dinosaur creature? There hadn't been anything like that in the reports! Pitt cleared his throat and continued on.

'Even though the first survey could only get a small amount of information about the wildlife on the planet, they did get a decent amount of info on the terrain and atmosphere,' Pitt said. 'The planet is covered with jungle and has no oceanic bodies of water, although there are many large lakes and rivers. There are large ice caps on the poles of the planet, but we aren't going to be venturing there on this mission.'

'Fantastic. I've always hated having to piss in the snow,' muttered George Dyson.

'That was _you?_' said Mace loudly. A couple of the marines laughed, and I noticed Sutherland smile quickly in the corner of my eye. I still didn't laugh at the jokes.

'I'd really appreciate that you two don't interrupt me in the middle of a briefing,' Pitt said firmly. 'Secure that shit _right now_.'

The marines immediately fell silent. Pitt waited for a few more seconds and then nodded at us. I nervously shuffled forward, not wanting to be in the spotlight. I don't like being in front of crowds.

'Anyway. For this mission,' Pitt continued, 'we will be split into three groups. One group will have to stay up here on the ship and keep a watch on the main monitoring equipment, while the other two will be assigned to assist the scientists.'

Pitt walked over to each of us in turn, starting with me. I could feel a nervous sweat trickle down my temple, and I hoped that it didn't show.

'Hung, Lloyd, Brennan, Mace and I will be teamed up with Lucille Cameron and Chris Harriet.'

The marines nodded. Harriet smiled broadly and stood up proudly, and I tried my hardest to copy her. I tried to manage a weak smile, but by that point Pitt had moved onto the next few.

'Kirby, Treadwell, Ross, Perkins and Jordan will be teaming up with Cam Garland and Martin Brasco. Both teams will be going over different stretches of the jungle, and we'll spend the first sweep gathering photographic data and monitoring the wildlife. After that first sweep we'll move in to start collecting samples.'

There was some murmuring amongst the marines. Pitt stood where he was and patiently waited until the marines had finished talking.

'Just before we start, I'd like to say that this operation has to go smoothly and by the numbers,' Pitt said. He looked at his watch. 'Okay then. I want the dropships prepped and ready to go by 11:30. Let's move it!'

Immediately the marines sprang up and began to talk amongst themselves while heading over to the dropships and the equipment stores. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, glad that the attention was off me. I rubbed my eyelids and then I felt Harriet's hand fall on my shoulder.

'Are you okay? You're sweating badly,' she said. I quickly made a move to wipe the sweat away and found nothing. I scowled at her.

'You aren't funny, Chrissie,' I said. She glared back, mockingly.

'Oh come on. Lighten up, you dweeb,' she said as she walked off. I shrugged and went back inside to the locker room to get my things. As I did I checked my watch; it was 8:50.

_Plenty of time to get ready,_ I thought to myself.

x-x-x

'Mace! Keep that _fucking_ thing away from me!'

'Aw, come on Tom. It likes you!'

I smiled and shook my head sadly as I listened to Mace and Ross mess around. Mace was piloting one of the cargo loaders and had just finished loading one of the supply crates into the dropship. It seemed that he was treating the loader's hydraulic claw as a living creature and was trying to clamp Ross around the leg as he checked out what had been loaded up.

'Mace, you pull another piece like that and I'll report you to the sergeant. _Understood_?'

That was Sutherland. I heard Ross and two others chuckle, quickly followed by the loader clanking away down the bay.

I was sitting at one of the tables in the mess hall, going through some files on my laptop. I preferred the mess to other parts of the ship; it was almost cosy and the sound of the main bay wasn't as loud in my ears. Especially when the dropships were being loaded up for a mission.

'Hey, Luce.'

I looked up at Garland and Harriet. Both of them were taking their own laptops and equipment out and preparing them for the survey.

'Hello,' I said, waving. I sighed and closed my laptop before packing it into the shoulder bag and following them outside. One of the marines was loading up some crates into one of the dropship. They were about a metre wide and tall, and looked like animal cages.

'Hey, I thought that Pitt said we weren't going to be taking any specimens on this survey,' I said. The marine looked up and shrugged.

'It's nothing. Just stocking them up for the second sweep,' he said. 'It's a lot easier to do things when you've planned them out in advance.'

I nodded, although it didn't really make any sense. I just shrugged it off and followed Garland and Harriet to the dropship at the far end of the bay. Pitt was standing there, watching as Perkins tested the small airlock set into the floor. He sealed the inner door – the one that was in front of us – and then closed the main control panel that sat next to it.

'Just don't let anything near it, okay?' Pitt said. Perkins nodded and took off his baseball cap, which had the _Conrad_ emblem stitched onto it, before heading over to Mace. Mace was climbing out of the cargo loader I had seen him in earlier and had put the shirt of his uniform.

Garland came to a stop and put down his bag of equipment. I just tightened the straps of mine and Harriet didn't seem like she wanted to let the marines handle her things. Perkins came over and picked up Garland's bag, lifting one strap over his shoulder.

'Pretty heavy,' said Perkins. He clicked his fingers at Mace, who came jogging over. 'Do you want me to be careful with it?'

'Yes please,' said Garland. Perkins nodded and headed off to the dropship at the opposite end of the bay as Mace came up to us.

'Do you want me to take your bags inside?' he asked, smiling. I shook my head, and then grinned when I saw Harriet start to blush slightly.

'Of course. Thank you,' she said, handing her bag to Mace. He looked over at me and I shook my head. He nodded and then walked up the dropship's loading ramp, disappearing into the passenger section and putting the bags away. Pitt then came up to us, now wearing his body armour over his chest and holding his helmet in one hand.

'Excuse me,' he said. We turned to him. 'We're about to go on the sweep and I think that you should start getting ready for it.'

'Of course,' said Garland, nodding. Pitt then led us across the cargo bay and to the armoury.

x-x-x

'God, how do you people _walk_ in this stuff?' I asked, trying to fit the heavy armour onto my torso. Kirby put her helmet on, then lifted her arm up and tapped her finger on one of the clips that stuck the backplate and breastplate together. I nodded, and fastened the clasps underneath my armpits together.

'Thanks,' I said, but Kirby was already taking her equipment bag with her and walking out with the others.

'Don't mind them,' said Brasco, fastening his helmet on. I grunted as I tried to fasten the bottom plate clasp, almost getting it on but not quite. Frustrated, I kicked the bench that sat in the middle of the armoury.

'Luce, you need to loosen the straps. Then you tighten it back up,' said Harriet, tightening her bootlaces. I frowned, and loosened the straps. They became long enough to firmly clasp them together, and then I tightened them back up. Rolling my eyes I picked up my helmet and put it on, having no trouble with securing the chin clasp.

'What's the matter, Luce?' Brasco said as Pitt and Brennan entered the room.

I shook my head. 'Nothing... the straps just aren't that tight usually,' I said. Pitt nodded at us and we went forward, following him out into the hanger. The first group had been loaded up inside the dropship, apart from Brasco, and he jogged over to it as we headed to the second.

'You nervous?' asked Harriet. I shrugged.

'Not really. I'm more excited than nervous,' I answered. 'Besides, the hangover's gone. I'll be fine.'

Harriet smiled and nodded, then turned back around. The marines that would be joining us were still outside the dropship, lined up in front of the loading ramp. Like us they were wearing the camouflage fatigues and body armour over the top. Now that they were in full combat uniform, the marines looked totally, completely disciplined, the exact opposite of what they had been at the mess hall and debriefing. Pitt walked along the line and observed each marine, before reaching the ramp and turning around.

'Alright then, marines, scientists,' Pitt said, nodding to us in turn. 'Let's get inside and strap ourselves in. Atmosphere readings indicate that there may be a storm brewing, so I want you to be secure. Let's go!'

With that, the marines, Harriet and I rushed up the ramp. It was as I went up the ramp and sat down in my seat, strapping myself in, that I began to feel the excitement and anticipation start to run through my system.

I smiled broadly as the ramp began to close, barely able to keep still.

x-x-x

**A.N.:** As usual, feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks


	12. Matriarch

**Matriarch**

_-Scythe, what is it?-_ said Stalker. It sounded a little annoyed, but more concerned than anything. I was shaking uncontrollably and tried to calm myself down enough to speak. It worked... a little. Stalker had come back to me, while Dart had run back to the cavern to tell the Matriarch that we had found something. Right now, I was standing inside the space while Stalker looked down at me from the rim of the hole.

_-...you're not going to believe this,-_ I managed to say. Hearing the tone of my voice, Stalker looked around the rest of the area that I was standing in. Then, cautiously, it climbed in along the roof and dropped down to the floor beside me.

_-Alright then,-_ it said. -_What am I not going to believe?-_

I led Stalker over to the crate. It still seemed too surreal to be true, and yet it was there. There was no mistaking the pheromones of one's Matriarch. I stood there while Stalker eyed it for a second, and then looked at me funnily.

_-This is payback for something, isn't it?-_ Stalker asked. _-Something's going to pop out of it. I know it.-_ I shook my head.

_-No, it isn't. Just... just believe me. Check the pheromones inside it,-_ I said.

Stalker edged forward, scraping away some of the hardened dust and mould that lay on top of the crate, and then sniffed at it cautiously. Suddenly Stalker reared back like it had been hit in the face with something. Its head darted to me and I nodded.

_-...that can't be real,-_ Stalker said. I looked at the crate again.

_-I'm thinking the same thing,-_ I said. Stalker stuck its head inside the crate this time, and pulled out, completely bewildered.

_-Okay, this is officially the scariest_ _thing that I've ever experienced,-_ Stalker said, shaking slightly. I poked the crate with my tail and it slid along the floor slightly, making a loud rasping noise on the floor that made the both of us jump. It hit the crate behind it with a small _clank_ and then stopped. Stalker and I looked at each other.

_-We have to show this to the Matriarch,-_ we said at almost the exact same time. I looked back at the crate and clasped it firmly in my claws, dragging it back across the floor. It made a similar rasping noise, but this died down when it started to slide over the dust and mould.

_-It doesn't seem too heavy,-_ I said. -_One of us could keep it on our back, and run with it if we wanted to.-_

Stalker nodded and leapt to the roof. It moved over to the rim of the hole and looked down at me as I dragged the crate just underneath it. When I had done this I climbed up the wall and looped my tail inside the crate, lifting it up so that Stalker could loop its tail inside. I watched as Stalker climbed outside, dragging it to the top... and then the crate stopped moving with a heavy _clank!_

_-Ah... Scythe, you may need to push the crate through, please,-_ Stalker said. I scuttled up to the ceiling and pushed on the crate until it popped free of the hole, nearly dislodging me from the ceiling and sending me to the ground. I managed to regain m balance and followed Stalker out onto the roof.

_-Okay. The hard part's over,-_ said Stalker. The crate had flattened the sides of the hole slightly as I had pushed it through, leaving it in a similar shape to the crate itself. Now that it was out in the open air, I could see that it was almost icy cold and was beginning to warm up. I knew it already, but the crate appeared to be made out of a similar metal to the one under the "skin" of the object. Stalker looked at me, with that all too familiar look on its face.

_-Okay. What?-_ I said. Stalker chuckled.

_-I believe that, because you found the crate, you have to carry it back to the Hive and show the Matriarch,-_ it said. I sighed and shook my head.

_-Fine. But it doesn't bother me,-_ I said as I lifted the crate up with my tail and held it on my back. A few of the sharp and jagged edges dug into my back but they caused me only minor discomfort. I shifted the crate slightly and hopped down to the ground. Holding it in place with my tail, I started to trek back up to the lake's edge. Stalker followed me close behind.

_-I don't like this,-_ Stalker said. I nodded.

_-Me neither... but I'm sure that she'll know.-_ I replied.

x-x-x

_-What is that, Scythe?-_ chirped one of the little drones as we got to the hive clearing. It had hatched about three days ago and was already about a third of my size. I shook my head.

_-I don't know. That's why we brought it here to show the Matriarch,-_ I said. I continued to walk forward, and then paused. The little drone was following me and twitching with excitement at the same time. I had an idea about what might have happened, so I put down the crate and turned to it.

_-Okay. Tell me what she named you,-_ I said, feeling my curiosity start to build up. The little one cocked its head slightly.

_-How... how do you know that I was given a name?-_ it said. I smiled and laughed.

_-I've seen it enough times to know,-_ I said. -_Come on, tell us!-_

_-Yes, tell us! Go on!-_ said Stalker from over my shoulder. I hit it on the shoulder with my tail and then focused on the little drone, the curiosity getting stronger.

_-...she said I was called Prowl!-_ the drone chirped. I grinned and nodded.

_-Congratulations! We'll have to talk about it later, though. This is important,-_ I said. Prowl seemed to twitch and then scurried off to where two other young drones were playing.

_-I get the feeling that it's going to take over my role in the hive,-_ said Stalker, feigning sadness. I held back a giggle and hoisted the crate back onto my back.

_-Yes, I'm sure it will,-_ I said, _-but right now we need to show this to the Matriarch. Are you coming?-_

Stalker nodded. We both went towards the entrance of the cavern, past the remains of the hosts. One of the hatchlings hadn't hatched yet and I felt it stirring slightly, but it would be a few more hours before it would come out.

On hot days, the cavern tends to become quite warm and balmy. This is mainly because it absorbs heat from the tree canopy surrounding it, and the water that is retained within the chitin gets evaporated. The day had gotten increasingly hotter as it had approached midday and when we entered the cavern water was dripping from the ceiling, forming small, shallow puddles on the floor.

Stalker and I moved down past the main part of the cavern, where we slept at night. Whiplash was building a small alcove to store the fish that had been caught and nodded to us as we walked by. The cavern sloped downward slightly and began to widen out, and then we got to the edge of the eggs.

There were about twenty eggs spaced out across this section of the cavern, and suspended from the ceiling in the middle was the Matriarch. She appeared to be asleep, curled up and hanging from the chitin spines that she had attached to her back. Her egg sack moved around sluggishly, laying one egg and then sealing up. Standing before her, I felt calm. But there were important issues at hand.

Carefully, I laid down the crate, putting it down in between two eggs. I approached the Matriarch, carefully moving in between the eggs, and then stood in front of her. I waited for a few seconds and then spoke.

_-Matriarch...-_ I said softly. For a few seconds there was no reply, and then she twitched gently. Slowly, her skull slid out of the royal crest that sat behind it and her arms unfurled, flexing gently. She shook her head gently and then looked down at me.

_-Little Scythe,-_ she said. Now that she was awake, I felt that familiar wave of calm and security relax and focus my mind. I heard Stalker move forward towards me.

_-Mother, we... we have found something,-_ I said. She must have sensed something in my voice, because she cocked her head slightly and looked from me to Stalker.

_-Scythe, Stalker, you seem stressed. Troubled,-_ she said, her voice now sounding concerned. -_What is the matter?-_

_-We found something and we weren't sure of what to make of it,-_ Stalker said. I nodded and moved towards where the crate sat.

_-What is this object that you are talking about?-_ the Matriarch asked. I stopped and looped my tail inside the crate's hole.

_-I... We don't know, Matriarch... but we thought that you might know what it is,-_ I said. Slowly, I dragged the crate away from the eggs and propped it up onto a small ledge within the Matriarch's vision. She turned to look at it and I could feel that she was curious, but when she saw it she froze. The egg sack stopped moving around and she didn't even seem to breathe.

_-...w-where did... did you find this?-_ the Matriarch said, finally. I felt an uneasy chill spread up my back. She was afraid. I could feel it radiating from the Matriarch like ripples across the surface of water, and suddenly the air felt very cold. I noticed that Stalker was shrinking away from the Matriarch, coming towards me. I swallowed.

_-We... we found an old object in the hills,-_ I began. _-It had several drone husks and a few dead hosts, and then we found this object. It had your pheromone scent all over it and we wanted to make sure about what it was, and... and so we brought the object back here so that you could explain it to us.-_

For a moment, the Matriarch remained frozen, almost as if she were expecting the crate to come alive and leap across the cavern at her. Then, suddenly, she let out a deep breath and she relaxed, her arms falling gently to her sides. I felt a wave of relief go over me and I didn't feel worried for her anymore. After about a minute the Matriarch looked back up at us, and I saw that she was still a little frightened. But no worse than we drones would be after being chased by a Sprint bull.

_-I... I am sorry, little ones. You scared me for a moment,-_ she said. She chuckled; first it sounded forced, and then became natural. I looked over at the crate and then back to her.

_-Matriarch, what happened?-_ I asked. -_Why were you so scared of this... thing?-_

She stopped chuckling.

Gingerly, the Matriarch looked at both me and Stalker, and then to the crate. She sighed.

-..._I thought that they were back,-_ she said soberly.

_-Who are "they", Matriarch?-_ asked Stalker, although I got the feeling that we already had a good idea of what "they" were. She shivered slightly and looked away from us for a moment, and for a second I thought that she was contemplating whether to tell us about what had happened.

Then I saw it.

Running along the smooth parts of the Matriarch's skull were several scars. A few of them looked like your average wear-and-tear, but two of them struck me as strange. One was a long, smooth line that went a few inches down the crest, starting at the join of her skull and the crest itself. The second sat just above her left arm and looked like the remains of a tail-stinger duel from long ago.

Despite the fact that the Matriarch had undergone a metamorphosis into, well, a Matriarch, I could still make out the lines of where the scars sat. The Matriarch turned her head back towards us.

_-Did they do that_ _to you?-_ I asked, concern beginning to bubble up inside me. To my surprise, she just laughed softly and the feeling ebbed away.

_-Little Scythe, do not worry. I gained those scars a long time ago. The one on my shoulder was from a climbing accident when I was still a hatchling, but... the other running along my skull was caused by _their_ weapons.-_

_-...who?-_ I asked, barely hearing Dart and Whiplash come in behind us. The Matriarch smiled weakly.

_-They are a race of host creatures,-_ she said. -_I don't know what they call themselves, if indeed they have a name, but they are one to be cautious with.-_

The Matriarch sighed and glanced back over at the crate. -_They are physically weak on their own, barely able to lift up their own body weight. But what they lack in physical strength, they more than make up for in intelligence.-_

_-Are you talking about the things in the trees?-_ Dart piped up. The Matriarch paused, puzzled, and then seemed to realise what Dart was referring to. She laughed softly and shook her head.

_-No. While those other creatures, the Hunters, are dangerous, I haven't had as much experience with them as I have had with _them_,-_ she said. -_There are similarities between the two, such as their reliance on artificial objects and their individual ways of thinking, but there are also drastic differences. For while the Hunters will only come in small groups once and never return... _they_ are persistent.-_

I felt uneasy now. There was something within the Matriarch's words... she was no longer the calm and refined Mother that I had known, but now she was openly speaking with hate and venom in her voice. I walked over the crate and poked it. The mesh grid that made up its side bent inwards slightly.

_-I can still remember it clearly,-_ the Matriarch said, sounding far off. I turned around and faced her again, suddenly alert. I could feel her emotions entering my mind, and I wasn't feeling calm anymore. Instead, I felt distressed, like the times when she had had a nightmare and we had all seen it.

_-There is one thing you need to know, little ones,-_ she said. _–I was not born as a youngling who would one day mature into a Matriarch. I was born as just an ordinary drone, just like you all are now.-_

Trying to picture the Matriarch as a drone was... well, a little confusing to me. I remembered when I had just been born and she had come out to greet me, and compared her from then to what she was like now. She _had_ seemed more drone-like then...

_-When I was at about your age, the Hunters came,-_ she said sadly. _–We lost nearly a quarter of the Hive to them, but we survived. Then there came a severe winter storm, and nearly half of us perished when the snow caused the chitin to shatter and collapse around us. But we still survived. At least, that was until...-_

The Matriarch paused. She was now deeply upset about what she was trying to say; one didn't have to read her emotions to know that.

_-Until they arrived?-_ asked Whiplash, who was now returning from the fish store. The Matriarch nodded, continuing.

_-It was only a few months after the collapse,-_ she said, regaining some of her composure. _–We had begun rebuilding the ruined sections of the Hive; it was set into a cave system that sat just below the ground. I was laying down chitin on a pockmarked ceiling section, and then I heard a noise from overhead. It was like the whistling of an attacking bird but lower, and deeper. I looked up and there was a huge object, shaped like a bird but with flat panes all over its body. It looked too cold to be alive. I was obscured by some shrubs and the object didn't seem to notice me. I went back inside to tell my Matriarch of what happened, and she told us to investigate what it was. We didn't have to look very hard, because it was flying back overhead when we got to the surface. I and the others followed it until it landed, and then when we moved in to investigate...-_

The Matriarch's voice cracked slightly. The air was suddenly cold again and I shivered slightly. She turned to me and the other drones and frowned.

_-Little one, are you okay?-_ she asked. I nodded, feeling a little better.

_-What happened, Matriarch? What did they do?-_ asked Dart, who's voice sounded oddly quiet now.

_-As we got closer to the object, its belly opened up,-_ she said, sounding composed once more._ –Then about a dozen of the host creatures came out and started to look around. What was unusual was that they couldn't hear us moving through the underbrush nearby, like so many animals could. And because most of the Hive had been killed by the Hunters and the collapse, we decided to take these strange new creatures as hosts.-_

_-We all leapt out and attacked the creatures. There were only nine of us, but we were able to make short work of two that were near the bushes. The rest of the hosts ran back inside the object, and then they attacked back. They used weapons, similar to the Hunter's, that spat out red-hot pellets at a phenomenal rate, and three drones were torn apart in less than two seconds. One of the pellets hit me in the skull but only grazed me,-_ she said, ducking down slightly so that we could see the scar again.

-_But they left. They took their object and went back up into the sky, going up until they disappeared. We took the two hosts we had captured and cocooned them before reporting to the Matriarch about what had happened. She was concerned, but because the creatures had left, she did not worry about it. And neither did we, because they had left, and they seemed too weak to attack us without their weapons... but then they attacked us in the night._

_-They brought down the object and it spat out cylinders that exploded. I don't know how they were able to find the hive, but somehow... they did. I and the other drones tried to help our matriarch to escape, but then one of the cylinders detonated right above her head, and... and... we couldn't save her. Not then. We went outside to attack but they were waiting for us and they shot us with something that made us sleep, but against our will, and when I woke up I was inside... that thing,-_ she said, pointing at the crate.

I felt sick. Completely sick. These host creatures dared to attack a Hive while it was sleeping? I swayed slightly and walked around to the other side of the Matriarch's cavern, trying to contemplate exactly what had happened.

_-They took us up to another place, even bigger than the one they had used to attack us,-_ the Matriarch said softly. _–At first we were put into a single large space, but after we tried to escape they separated us and stored us in smaller places, like insects. I tried to escape a few times, but I only got outside once. I nearly went mad in there, if it hadn't been for the "tests" that they did.-_

_-They put me in the large area again, this time with two other drones. We first tried to co-ordinate an escape plan, but it wouldn't have worked. We did, however, start to plan out an escape that would take place much later.-_

_-What happened then?-_ asked Dart again, and the Matriarch smiled softly.

_-We figured out that we could bleed onto the surfaces of the place, and damage them enough to get out,-_ she said slyly. _–We managed to get into the walls of the place and freed the others, but it was then that we realised how hopeless escape would have been. You see... we were not on the planet. We were above it and would have to get back onto the flying objects to get back.-_

_-The hosts came out and started to try and put us back to sleep with their objects, but they couldn't this time. We attacked them and forced them into spaces that were similar to the ones we had been in. But then...-_ she noticeably winced, _-But then they began to attack us with more powerful weapons. But then, something happened... one of the drones went back inside the belly of the place and damaged it badly. They had to leave it in their attack objects and we followed...-_

The Matriarch laughed now. But it wasn't a bitter one; instead, she sounded relieved and happy. The sound of it after such a story of sadness and emotion was a welcome relief, and the other drones and I joined in. Now Brute and two others were with us. I got the feeling that the ending to it wasn't going to be a tragic one, after all.

_-The object crashed just near the lake,-_ the Matriarch said, her voice now steady. _–One of the drones died fighting the hosts, and two more died trying to help it. I and the other survivors made it by hiding in several crates, namely the one that you found, Stalker.-_

_-It was actually Dart who found it, Mother,-_ Stalker said, gesturing to Dart. The Matriarch beamed regardless.

_-It took several days but we were finally able to get back to the Hive. Our Matriarch... she had not died, but was on the way. A few other drones that hadn't been captured were with her, and she told us that we had to continue the hive on our own. I took several eggs to where we had crashed, and then had to wait until the moulting process began.-_ She sighed. The recount was over.

I felt... strange. I hadn't moved much for the entire amount of time that the Matriarch had been speaking, but I felt tired. But at the same time I felt strong, confident, and happy. Just knowing that our Matriarch had survived filled me with pride for her. And now that the recount was over, all the drones began to leave the Matriarch's lair. We all had duties to do to serve the Hive, and now that she was finished we had to perform them.

I went outside and basked in the strong sunlight, stretching to wring the stiffness from my limbs. I headed off to where the plat worm infestation had been, only to see Stalker looking over it. It looked up and shook its head.

_-All of the worms are gone,-_ it said. _–I doubt that we'll have to worry about them for a while.-_

_-I believe that,-_ I said, chuckling. _–So, what should we do now?-_

_-What did you think of the story?-_ said an awed Dart from behind me. I shook my head.

_-I don't know... at least we know how that object got there,-_ I said. _–I never thought of the Matriarch as being anything but. At least we know that she was like us.-_

_-I wouldn't want to be a Matriarch,-_ said Stalker. _–You don't get to move around enough.-_

There was silence for a second, and then all three of us burst out laughing. We were just about to head off into the trees, maybe to find something to eat, when I heard the tiny voice of one of the little drones.

_-...what's that?-_ it said, standing up on its hind legs. It craned its head to the east, cocking its head slightly. I looked over at the little one, who was standing alongside Prowl and two others. Almost in unison, they craned their heads over to where the little drone was looking. Before I could ask them what was going on, I heard it. I couldn't make it out at first, but it sounded far off. I felt my hearts quicken within my chest.

_-Do you hear that?-_ I asked softly. Stalker turned in the direction of the noise and, without looking away from it, walked over to a tree trunk and scuttled up, all the way to the top. I stood there for a moment, listening to the noise carefully. Prowl and the others went back to playing, and some of the larger drones went back to their duties.

It was hard to make out what it was, exactly. I could make out the sounds of a low whooshing noise, like a chunk of rock falling from a height. There were a few quick bursts of what sounded like hot air escaping from something, and they happened at regular intervals. The noise had gotten progressively louder and the details of it were becoming clearer. I could now make out something that sounded like a bird, maybe a large Swooper, gliding down for the kill.

It hit me, causing my hearts to skip a beat. The Matriarch... she had said that the object the hosts used sounded like a bird coming down for the kill, but much deeper.

I was hearing something that sounded exactly like it!

_-Scythe! Come up here, right now!-_ yelled out Stalker from up the tree. Dread starting to settle into my chest, I scrambled up the tree trunk until I was at the very top. Stalker was perched on a thick branch that hung out over the clearing, and I moved onto the branch behind it.

_-...what is it...?-_ I asked hesitantly. Stalker pointed a claw at the clouds in the distance, and I looked.

There was something there, descending from the clouds. It looked like a gliding bird from far off, but it rapidly approached and I was able to make out more details as it got closer. I could see that it was shaped like a bird with a fat body, trailing its feet out behind, and that most of the surfaces on the thing were flattened. The noise was louder now, and it sounded like a deep whistle. Suddenly, the object appeared to slow down and two wing-like objects with bulbs on the tips opened up from the centre.

_-...oh no.-_ Stalker said. I just stood there, frozen to the tree branch, feeling terrifyingly cold despite the warm sun overhead.

_They_, the things that had killed the Matriarch's hive, were _here!_

x-x-x

**A.N.:** Well, I hope you enjoyed it. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. :)


	13. Contact

**A.N.: **(stumbles in) And I'm back! Sorry this took so long, school caught up to me... I promise to you that I'll try and make this chapter make up for it. And this is the longest chapter yet...

x-x-x

**Contact**

_-...this isn't good,-_ Stalker said gravely. I was rooted to the tree branch, not quite able to move, but I managed a nod.

_-We have to tell the Matriarch,-_ I said. Stalker looked at me and nodded back.

_-Of course. I'll tell her, but...-_

_-But what?-_

_-I doubt that she _hasn't_ heard this thing coming,-_ Stalker said with a grin. -_I bet that all the Sprints are going crazy right now.-_

The object continued to swoop down and it stopped moving down only a few metres above the tree tops, pulling some of the younger trunks along in its wake. It got closer and closer to our tree and the noise became almost unbearable... and then it passed us by about fifty metres, moving over the lake. The tree shook slightly and a few leaves were torn off, sending them fluttering into the air.

For a few seconds I could see or hear anything. Then the noise began to die down and, slowly, I could see again. I shook my head a few times to wring out the dizziness. Stalker was doing the same, and had dug its claws deep into the bark of the tree's branch.

_-What was THAT?-_ Stalker exclaimed, taking a step towards me and nearly slipping off the branch. I darted out and caught its arm, helping it back up.

_-It was the sound... it got too loud, or something,-_ I said. -_Or maybe it was an attack of some kind... did it see us?-_

_-No. It's still moving away,-_ Stalker said. We both looked at each other.

_-We need to investigate in case they land,-_ I said. Stalker nodded.

_-I'll tell the Matriarch,-_ it said before scurrying off down the tree.

I took one final look at the object, now nothing more than a speck in the sky, and scurried down as well. I could see that the young ones were now standing rigid, craning their heads in the direction of the object. Whiplash had been dragging an egg but had let go of it, and now it was tilting heavily to the right. Whiplash was still reeling from the sound of the object and as soon as I was on the ground, I rushed to it.

_-What was _that_?-_ Whiplash said dazedly, shaking its head every few seconds.

_-The hosts. They're_ here_,-_ I said. Whiplash went rigid and its disorientation seemed to pass. It looked at me with disbelief.

_-What?-_

_-The hosts that the Matriarch told us about, they are here! We... we saw their flying object swoop in over the lake,-_ I said. Whiplash made as if to speak, and then stopped, contemplating what to do.

_-Scythe!-_ yelled Stalker from the cavern. It bounded out and came to a screeching halt in front of us. Suddenly, Stalker didn't have any trace of the unease it had on the tree top. Instead, it had that ever-present grin on its face.

_-The Matriarch said that we have to follow the object in case it decides to land,-_ said Stalker. -_But she made a suggestion for what we should do.-_

_-What do you mean?-_ I asked. Dart and four other drones bound over, listening in on the conversation.

_-Do you remember how the Matriarch said the hosts always return? She has an idea that they may go to where the crashed object is. She also said it was unlikely, but also possible to happen. We can ambush them there and either force them away or use them as hosts,-_ Stalker said.

_-I'll go with that,-_ chirped Dart. -_Even if they don't come back, the object is only a short distance from the Hive, so we can go back and forth really quickly and without any trouble. Although it does seem a little unlikely, but then again it _could_ happen, and-_

Stalker flicked Dart lightly with its tail and it shut up.

_-Okay,-_ I said. -_Two of us will have to go up to the lake, and another two will go to the crashed object. The rest of us will stay here in case the hosts decide to land and try to injure the Matriarch.-_

_-I'll go to the object,-_ said Brute. Dart looked back and forth and then began to quiver excitedly.

_-I'll go up to the lake!-_ it chattered excitedly.

x-x-x

Harriet looked sick. She had shut her eyes tightly and was gripping the knees of her pants so hard that I thought she'd tear holes in them. Her face was pale and she was gritting her teeth tightly.

'You okay?' asked Michael Lloyd, sitting to her right. She managed a brief nod and then pushed herself back into her seat as the dropship hit another air pocket.

'She'll be fine,' I said over the noise of the ship rattling. 'She gets motion sickness every now and again. I guess that we didn't expect the entry to be this rough...'

Without warning, I was jerked up in my seat and nearly hit the ceiling! My heart went into overdrive and then the dropship managed to straighten out, no longer shaking. Now I felt similar to what Harriet must have been feeling. After a few moments the ship leaned slowly to the left side and then jolted back, slamming my head against the metal headrest behind me.

'Shit,' grumbled Mace. He was sitting in the row of seats opposite to me and Harriet. He had been thrown against the restraint bar when the dropship had jolted and he was clutching his side, breathing through his teeth. Brennan, sitting next to him, looked over.

'Mace, you alright?' he asked. Mace swallowed and nodded.

'Yep, just barely,' he croaked. He shook his head and then whapped his chest three times – I doubt he would have felt it through the armour, though – and then sat back up.

'How about you guys? Are you coping with this drop okay?' Brennan asked. I nodded and smiled, feeling better, although Harriet had now covered her head with her hands.

'Where's Pitt?' I asked. He had left us in the seating section and had headed up to the cockpit. Before either Brennan or Mace could answer, Pitt came down the narrow stairway and sat back down in his seat, pulling the restraining bar over his head and clamping it firmly in place. The seats in the dropship were similar to the ones I had seen inside the APC; they looked like roller-coaster seats, but less colourful.

The dropship shuddered again. Harriet groaned and sat up in her seat. She still looked sick, but some of the colour was returning to her face. Pitt flicked on the radio headset that was stuck to his helmet and then looked over at us.

'I want you all to switch on your headsets,' he said. 'Just pull the earphones over to your ear and then flick the man switch, there should be a light beeping when you turn it on.'

Everyone nodded and flicked on their headsets. I pulled the earpiece over my right ear and flicked the set on, and a few seconds later I heard the tinny _beep-beep_ come out of it. The dropship hit another air pocket and began to rattle – there was also a loud clanging from the deck above us – and Pitt began to speak into his headset.

'Testing, 1-2-3, testing,' he said in a low, monotonous voice.

'Roger that,' said Brennan, and everybody began to giggle. He had said it only lowly, but it came in over the earpiece loud and strong. The dropship stopped shaking briefly, then jolted from side to side like a rocking boat, and then leveled out.

'_Major?'_ said another voice over our headsets. It was Mark Hung, the pilot. _'It looks like we've cleared the cloud bank and there's nothing but clear skies in front of us. The storm we observed from the Conrad could blow up into something a little more serious, though. I wouldn't expect it to happen for at least a few hours.'_

'That's fine,' Pitt said. 'What's the status of Dropship 2? Have they encountered any problems with their entry sequence?'

'_No sir,'_ said Hung. _'Dropship 2 is reporting that they came down absolutely fine. I guess that it looks like the weather's happy to see us, sir.'_

'After the unfortunate introduction,' Pitt said, completely deadpan, and I saw Brennan grin. Pitt then sat back in his seat, letting out a deep breath. I felt the dropship rise gently and then swoop back down, like a bird riding the updraft. Harriet didn't react to this one at all.

'_Major Pitt?'_ Hung said suddenly. Pitt clapped his hand to his earpiece.

'What is it?' he asked. For a few seconds, Hung didn't reply, but I could hear a faint beeping and tapping on the other end. There was a sigh, and then he began to speak again.

'_I-I'm picking up a strange reading,'_ he said. I could detect unease in his voice but there was also a sort of calmness to it. _'It appears to be a distress beacon coming from the jungle. Signal's pretty weak, but-'_

'What do you mean?' asked Pitt.

'_Well, what I mean is that there's a distress beacon coming from below us, sir,'_ Hung said. _'It's a QRS-150, the same type that all the military dropships use. It's really weird, though. The signal's pretty weak, which means that the ship itself has either a low reserve battery or it's been damaged.'_

'Or both,' said Pitt. 'Are you sure that it's coming from the surface?'

'_Yes, sir. The sensors only picked it up when we passed directly overhead. It's definitely not from Dropship 2.'_

My mind made a connection. I looked over to Pitt, who was thinking hard.

'Major?' I said, and he looked over. 'Didn't you say in the briefing that a dropship crashed during the first survey mission? Would the signal be coming directly from it?'

Pitt thought for a moment, and then a grin passed over his face. He put his hand back onto his headset.

'_Well... it does seem likely, sir,'_ Hung said. Pitt smiled this time and gave a thumbs-up to me. Mace and Brennan did as well, and I grinned lightly. _'But... the beacon is manually operated, not automated.'_

I felt my body pause. _Manually_ operated? That wasn't right. That meant that something on the surface would have had to have turned the beacon on. A brief thought flashed through my head that the beacon may have been turned on back when the ship had crashed, but it was pushed away very quickly. The battery reserves on a dropship last for three months before getting depleted, but not three _years_.

It had been turned on recently.

'Right. Hung, I want you to turn us around and head back to the beacon. Look's like we're going to be landing after all,' said Pitt with a sigh. Mace smirked and Hung said something else over the radio, and then the dropship banked to the left as it slowly turned around.

'You okay?' I asked Harriet. She nodded weakly and smiled, even though she looked sick.

'As long as I'm off this thing, I'm fine,' she said.

'I second that,' mumbled Mace, rubbing his chest under his armour. 'I thought that the Kevlar was supposed to _stop_ you from hurting yourself idiotically.'

I held back a laugh.

x-x-x

I moved through the undergrowth around the cavern, heading towards the crashed object. It had begun to get hotter over the past few weeks, and as a result many of the smaller plants around the cavern and the lake had bloomed wildly. The small stream was now clogged with ugly, thorny bushes and saplings that seemed to be made out of rubber than anything else. I edged through the bushes carefully, my senses on full alert. I could hear a school of fish leaping out of the water by the lake, as well as a few Sprints in the distance. True to what Stalker had said, they sounded panicked. This made me chuckle softly.

_-What is it?-_ asked Brute, moving a short distance behind me. I shook my head.

_-Nothing. Stalker just said that the Sprints would be going crazy right now, and... well, just listen.-_

_-Ah,-_ said Brute, and I felt it smile.

We finally cleared the tangle of bushes and saplings, edging through the trees. There were quite a few bare patches on the ground in this area, which made it unfortunate whenever you were being bombarded by Swoopers. I could hear them screeching from overhead and near the lake, but thankfully none of them were nearby.

I bounded over the slope, going over several chunks of rock and boulders that were strewn about. Finally I got to the crashed object and stopped, peering up at it. We had gotten to it at the lower section of the slope, just under the trees that had been snapped.

_-Fascinating__,-_ said Brute, looking at the object closely. -_So that's what took the Matriarch?-_

_-That's what she said,-_ I replied, shrugging. Cautiously, I moved further up the slope to the rear of the object. I could now see the similarities between both it and the object that had just swooped overhead. Of course, the one in front of me was badly dilapidated and covered in dead plant matter, but the resemblance was clear.

_-What do you think we should do, then?-_ asked Brute, grabbing a bug and then letting it go. -_Should we just hide in the bushes for the hosts, or should we wait out in the open until they arrive?-_

I was about to answer when I heard the noise again. The host's object must have turned back around, because I could hear the sound it made getting louder and louder. It didn't seem as shrill as it had before – I thought that could have been because of the speed that it had been going – but I could still tell that it would be painful up close. _Very_ painful.

_-Scythe! Into the bushes!-_ hissed Brute, and we both leapt into the thorny cluster at the side of the crashed object. We moved through them to the northern edge of the object, taking care not to be seen. Then we lay there completely still, watching for the object. I felt anxious, but also very calm, as I usually do when I think something big is about to happen.

_-I'll get the others,-_ said Brute. I nodded, and then Brute went through the bushes like a Sprint running at full pelt. I simply crouched in the bushes and waited.

I didn't have to wait very long at all.

After only a few seconds, the object came swooping down from over the trees. I could make it out through the tree tops as it got closer, and now I could observe it in much greater detail. It had several patches of heat on its skin, with the air surrounding the patches being heated in unison like a blooming flower. I could detect a great deal of electricity running across it, but it seemed to be of immense power. And the sound that it was making this time was tolerable, and it didn't affect my senses at all. It still made a deep rumbling that made my head throb, but I took no notice of it.

The object got closer until it was over one of the clear patches, about twenty metres down the slope. That section was towards the bottom and was flatter than the rest. The object stopped still, like a bird preparing to roost, but its wings didn't move. Then, suddenly, the "wings" folded onto the objects back with a soft whine! The object shifted very slightly and then descended straight down, landing on the ground with a loud thud. The sound emanating from it slowly died down, and I could hear several smaller noises on top of that.

_-Hello, Scythe,-_ said Stalker, jumping down from the trees and landing right next to me. I turned slightly and acknowledged it.

_-Good to see you here,-_ I said. -_Who else is here?-_

_-I am!-_ chirped Dart. I hissed softly at it, making it go quiet.

_-...sorry,-_ it said. I shrugged.

_-It's okay,-_ I said. Cautiously, I moved to the edge of the bushes to see if I could see the hosts and the object better. I could just barely make them out down the slope.

The hosts were coming out of the belly of the object, which had slid open at a slight angle. I couldn't make out too many details, but it looked like they were clad in hard armour plates that left very little of the body exposed. I heard a rustling beside me and I turned-

_-I wonder what they're going to do?-_ said Prowl excitedly. I couldn't hold back my shock, and it peered at me.

_-What is it?-_ it asked. I paused for a moment.

_-Don't you think you're a little small to be out here?-_ I asked. Prowl looked up at my face and shook its head, smiling.

_-If I remember correctly, Scythe, _you_ were young when you got into your first real fight,-_ Stalker chuckled. I looked at it, smirking.

_-I can still distract them, if anything else,-_ said Prowl softly. -_Do you want me to get their attention while the rest sneak up behind and take them?-_

I thought for a moment, and then nodded. -_Good idea.-_

Without pausing a moment longer, I leapt at the nearest tree and scuttled up to the top. Almost every single tree in this section of the forest had its canopy connected with another's. I reached one of the middle branches and then darted across it onto the next tree, moving as silently and quickly as possible.

The hosts... they weren't going to know that we even existed.

x-x-x

'_Alright then. Everyone, we're descending, so hold onto your seatbelts... it may get a little bit rough.'_

Harriet let in an anxious breath, and pressed herself into her seat. I just sat where I was, hearing the engines outside and feeling them vibrate the hull around us. There was a pneumatic hiss followed by two clanks, and then the dropship began to descend. It felt like being strapped into a seat that was inside an elevator, but Harriet _still_ couldn't handle it.

'Just remember. Don't go any further than fifty metres from the dropship,' said Pitt. I nodded and the marines murmured in agreement. The dropship then shuddered gently and the sound of the engines began to die down. Harriet looked up, her eyes darted around the room, and then she went limp, letting out a relieved sigh.

'You really aren't enjoying this, are you?' said Brennan. Harriet nodded, and then the restraints for the seats lifted up with a mechanical whine. I stood up quickly and stretched, my legs feeling weak after the long ride down. A yawned and then helped Harriet stand up. Most of the colour had returned to her face and she now looked like her ordinary self.

'Gee, that was quick,' said Mace, looking quite surprised. She just smiled and shrugged.

'Hey, I get airsick sometimes. It happens,' she said, moving up the stairwell to the main hanger.

Pitt was already up there, checking in on Hung in the cockpit. He finished talking to him and then shut the door. He went over to a panel that stood about a metre away from the cockpit door, pressed a few buttons on it, and stepped back. I heard several loud clanking noises, and then the cargo ramp of the dropship slid open.

Harriet summed it all up with a single word: 'Whoa.'

Slowly, we both headed down the ramp and into the forest outside the dropship. It was absolutely _breathtaking_.

The ground crunched beneath me and Harriet's boots as we stepped off the ramp. It was covered in a whole litter of dead leaves and old twigs, and they were as pale as snow. There were a few newer leaves, and a couple of small bushes, but nothing much else. I walked away from the ramp a little bit, ogling the forest around us.

We had landed in a small patch of the forest with no trees. The patch sloped upwards to the front of the dropship and seemed to climb into a steady hill, packed with trees. The trees weren't what I had been expecting, either; they averaged about fifteen metres tall and were covered in pale, creamy bark. There were a number of pores running up the length of each trunk, oozing out a thick purple substance. I went over to the nearest tree and ran my fingers over the bark, getting a feel of it. It was smooth and powdery under my fingertips, and when I scraped the bark with my fingernail it left a deep scrape. Something like hard, dark brown bark was underneath the top layer.

The leaves looked like a terrestrial leaf with all the skin scraped off so you could see the veins that ran across them, and they were a greenish-violet colour. As the leaves fluttered in the gentle breeze, they seemed to flicker back and forth between the colours like a fluorescent neon sign.

I turned around and looked at Harriet, who was still gazing at the tangle of branches up above us. I must have looked like a kid in a candy shop... preferably of the Willy Wonka variety.

'So then, was the trip and the airsickness worth it?' I said a little quickly. Harriet looked across at me and nodded, a giant grin spreading over her face.

'What the hell do you think?' she said loudly, and then began fanning her face. 'It's a bit warm, though. Maybe the rainy season's a short distance away.'

I nodded and picked up a loose branch off the ground. 'This is really incredible. The trees seem to have a similar structure to the paperbark tree. And if there's a forest, then there's _bound _to be a big ecosystem in here-'

Something landed on my shoulder, and I let out a shriek!

'Whoa, watch it,' said Brennan from behind me. I let out an annoyed sigh and turned around, looking at him in the face. He, Pitt and the other marines (with the exception of Hung) were standing there, ready to march out.

I took one glance at the guns they were carrying, and glared at Pitt.

'Major?' I asked, trying to sound as polite as possible, 'Why are the marines taking out guns into this environment?'

'Why are you asking, Luce?' he answered, sounding puzzled. The others stepped off the ramp and went over near Harriet, and I took a step closer.

'Pitt! They're taking freaking _guns_ out here? Why!'

Pitt sighed and rubbed his eyes. 'Because we don't know what's out there, and we need to defend ourselves.'

I rolled my eyes. They had _no right_ to shoot anything here. 'Look, Major Pitt, I just think that because we're on a _research_ mission, we shouldn't kill anything. And-'

Before I could react, Pitt reached into his belt and took out a handgun, sticking it into one of my hands. It was so unexpected that I just froze and stared at the gun, eyes wide, as Pitt began to brush past me. Then he tapped me on the shoulder and I looked around, a little confused.

'You okay, Luce?' he asked in a very teacher-like tone. I nodded dumbly, and he smiled. 'Good. Because we are just taking the guns with us in case we need to defend ourselves. And if I were you, I wouldn't start getting attached to the wildlife before we even see any.'

Pitt walked to the group and I followed. Harriet was standing just outside them and looked over at me, smirking.

'Ah, shut up, Chris,' I muttered as we started up the slope.

x-x-x

_-Look at them,-_ said Brute, sitting on the branch next to me. I nodded slowly, and then moved to the trunk of the tree and slithered down slowly. I landed softly in the thorny bush at the root ball and Brute came down a second later, and we both slithered to the edge of the bushes.

There were six of the hosts outside of the flying object. Four of them appeared to be clad in heavy layers of something like animal skin, but it gave off no heat and they seemed unfazed by it. There were two walking ahead of the others and they seemed to be wearing slightly less skins than the others. All of them were carrying strange, metal objects; it took me a few moments but I recognized them as being the weapons from the Matriarch's memory. That made me nearly hiss with anger over what _they_ had done to her.

_-This may be more difficult than we expected,-_ Brute sighed. I nodded and looked across the bushes at Stalker and the others. They looked first at the hosts, and then back to us.

_-Are you two ready?-_ Stalker called out. I nodded, and flicked my tail gently. I heard a quick scampering from somewhere up above, and then Prowl began to chatter softly. The excitement in its voice was unmistakable.

_-Okay then,-_ I said. -_Get ready. Remember, this is going to be like a Sprint hunt, only this time they're armed with Quillbacks.-_

I held back a chuckle as Brute winced at the memory. There was a light crunching and I turned back to the hosts as they got closer and closer. One of them made some kind of vocal noise, and one in the middle – it was taller than the others by a fair margin – responded, using some of the same vocalizations. I also saw that two of them had headed back down to the object, which was going to make the attack much easier.

I crouched down and got ready to spring.

x-x-x

Despite what Pitt had said, I moved ahead of the others, eyeing the whole forest with my eyes wide and my jaw open. I could hear a couple of harsh cries in the distance, similar to a crow's, and a chattering noise in the trees like a monkey. I had tucked the handgun into the back of my belt and it brushed against the back of my shirt, cold and harsh.

Yeah. I'm not too much of a stickler for guns.

'Okay then Mace. Work your magic,' said Pitt. Mace nodded and pulled out a DL-309 Range Finder from his pack. The DL-309 looks similar to a motion detector, but it's sleeker and lighter. Mace casually flicked it on and I could hear it beeping monotonously.

'The dropship... is about fifty metres up the hill, due north west,' Mace said, putting the Range Finder back inside his pack. I rolled my eyes and chuckled, stopping and turning around to look at him.

'What do you mean, "north- west"? We're not in a combat situation,' I said, unable to hide the huge grin on my face. Mace gave a mock glare.

'Ha, ha, Lucille,' he said. 'It's a habit, like you always going one step ahead. This time literally.'

I smirked, and was just about to respond, when there was a sudden screech and a loud thud from behind me! I spun around as Pitt and the others took a step back. I heard Brennan say something out loud, but I barely heard it.

I was too absorbed by the thing in front of me.

It was small and black, with a long tail that snaked out behind it and whipped back and forth. I couldn't make out any details, other than it was curled up in a tight ball and had a long ridge of spines going down the length of its tail. For a few seconds it didn't move, apart from the tail, of course, and I began to back off while peering in at it at the same time.

'Luce, get back,' said Pitt, and I heard the distinctive sound of a rifle being cocked. I glanced behind me and saw that he, Mace and Brennan were already about four metres down the slope. They weren't moving anymore, keeping their guns trained on the thing in front of me.

'Guys, I think it's fine,' I started, raising my hand up. 'I don't think it's going to-'

I was cut of by a deep, whining hiss. Slowly, I turned back around and looked at the creature, and nearly jumped.

Somehow, it had reared up to full height without making a _single_ noise. It sat there on all fours, its tail arched up over its head like a scorpion, baring a row of large teeth that looked more like _fangs_ than teeth.

Now that I could see the creature completely, I felt absolutely terrified.

The creature was about two feet tall and had a vague humanoid appearance, with well-muscled but thin arms and legs. There seemed to be a pattern of ribbed strips that ran down the creature's limbs and a section of the tail. I could just make out four strange spikes or tentacles on its back, as well as a strangely boney torso. The head of the thing was elongated and stretched about halfway down its back, and I couldn't make out any eyes or ears.

But it was the colour of the thing that struck me. It was just absolutely _black_. That unnerved me. I felt my jaw quiver and I went backwards slowly... and then my foot struck something and I stumbled, nearly falling down the hill.

The creature braced itself.

'Luce! Get _back here!_' yelled Pitt. I nodded and made a move to go backwards, but I was being careful not to go too quickly or the thing might attack. It seemed to brace itself, and then reared back... but instead of pouncing at me, it stuck its head up in the air and let out a piercing, ear-splitting screech.

Suddenly there was a quick rustle to my right. I made to turn around, and I caught a glimpse of something black streak through the bushes-

Something that was absolutely _gigantic_ leapt out of the bushes, screeched and then slammed heavily into Brennan's chest before he had time to react! He screamed and smacked into the ground, sliding down the slope with the thing on his chest.

It was another creature, like the one in front of me... but it was _huge!_ A part of my mind started to think that we had just pissed off a parent and we had to get out, when several things happened at once.

First, Pitt turned around to the bushes and opened fire with his pulse rifle, chewing up the thorny branches and sending chunks of wood everywhere. Mace began to head down to Brennan, but then looked up at me and raised his gun-

_WHACK!_

I shrieked as something strong and heavy smashed into my backpack! The impact knocked me into the air and then, jarringly, I hit the ground again, the sharp forest litter flying by and scratching my skin deeply. I tried to stand but then I heard a low hiss _right next to my ear_.

I began to thrash around and tried to throw the thing on my backpack off, but then it let out another screech and something whipped by my face, smacking into the ground and embedding itself into the dirt. I glanced at it and saw a sharp black barb right next to my face, less than an inch away.

It was attached to a bony black tail.

I gasped and tried to stand, but the creature on my back jolted forward again and tried to pull the barb out of the ground. I yelled and hit the ground again, before flipping onto my side and rolling down the hill!

The world became a kaleidoscope of the white ground, the trees, and the light blue sky above. The thing on my back screeched louder and something grabbed at my face. I was faintly aware of Brennan screaming and Mace and Pitt yelling something out as the air seemed to _fill_ with screeches-

_THUD!_

Without warning, I slammed back-first into one of the tree trunks and curved around it. The little thing shrieked and flailed, and something smashed across my cheek with a sound like a whip. I yelled and managed to push myself off the tree, sliding down until I hit something else.

Blearily, I opened my eyes. The world was swirling before my eyes and I could just make out the dropship... suddenly my mind became clearer and I shook my head. I was right at the dropship! There was an ear-splitting screech from behind and I whipped around, falling onto my back. The creature was standing right at the root ball of the tree, baring its teeth at me. Long ropes of drool poured out of its mouth and onto the ground.

'Luce!' yelled Lloyd from behind me. There was a tremendously loud _whirr_ of gunshots and then the creature on the tree was knocked backward, flying onto the ground as its blood sprayed everywhere. A hand latched onto my shoulder and I jumped-

'Luce! Move it!' screamed Harriet. I stumbled to my feet and scrambled alongside her to the dropship's ramp. Mace and Pitt were dashing towards us, firing their rifles point blank at the creatures behind them. They things were screeching, madly running down the hill with a grace that seemed unlikely with their size. They looked like they were _built_ for fighting, with their sinewy muscles and athletic build.

Without warning, I was knocked off my feet. Harriet screamed and I rolled over, just in time to see that one of the creatures had crash-tackled Lloyd from behind. It sat on his back like a cat with its prey, and he struggled to get the thing off.

It simply raised its tail and rammed the barb on the end into his shoulder without hesitation.

I don't know what got into me then, but as quickly as I could I reached into the back of my belt and pulled out my handgun. Trying to keep my hands steady, I raised it and prepared to fire. It looked at me, made a noise that sounded like a hiss and a snarl, and then simply _tossed_ Lloyd into the trees before turning back to me!

_Blam!_ The gun went off and a chunk of the creature's shoulder went flying off, greenish-yellow blood spilling everywhere. It shrieked and hit the ground on all fours... and then it was hit by a barrage of bullets from another source.

Mace and Pitt, now right behind me!

'You like that, you son of a bitch?' Mace screamed, firing into the creature's body. It screeched and reeled backwards, several holes opening in its body before its head exploded with a sickening noise. Smash a watermelon and you'll see what I mean. Blood spattered everywhere and it hit the floor, flailing violently.

'Luce! Come on!' yelled Harriet, and without hesitating I dashed up into the dropship. But before I did, I saw that the creature's blood was hissing and spitting as it sunk into the ground. I got to the top of the ramp and threw myself up, hitting the floor with a hard _clang_ as my helmet hit the grating. I lay there, feeling dizzy and sick, breathing hard.

'Hung!' said Pitt, throwing open the cockpit door. 'We have to get out of here, right now!'

'Don't need to persuade me, sir!' Hung said, sounding shaken. Pitt got back out and slumped back against the wall of the ship, and raised his pulse rifle up. Mace was still standing at the top of the ramp, managing to look both frightened out of his wits and collected at the same time. Both he and Pitt had scratched all over their arms and face.

'That... was _not_ how I wanted to spend this morning,' Mace said. Pitt nodded.

'Oh Jesus they took them...' said Harriet, sounding horrified. I rolled over and stood up, even though my knees were shaking so bad that I thought I wouldn't be able to.

'This doesn't make sense,' I muttered. Pitt and Mace looked at me.

'What do you mean?'

'Acid. They bleed _acid_, and that one down there shrugged off the bullet wounds like they were nothing. It's...'

I trailed off. I was terrified, to be frank, and even though I'd gladly study those creatures any day I just wanted to leave now.

'I have an idea,' said Mace, rummaging around in his pack. He pulled out several magazines with red stripes running down the sides, and tossed one to Pitt and then me. I frowned and looked over at the two of them.

'What are these?' I asked. Pitt grinned, took the handgun from me and loaded it, before handing it back. I raised it uneasily.

'These, my friend, are animal tranquilizers,' Mace said. I stared at the gun and nodded slowly.

Then there was a scuttling noise from outside, and we raised our guns.

x-x-x

_-Scythe! We have two of them, but they got Whiplash and Spine!-_ called Stalker.

_-I'm hurt!-_ yelled Prowl from somewhere near the object. For my part, I clutched onto the wound in my hip. It burned, but the bleeding hadn't been severe.

I looked down at the bottom of the flying object. Whiplash was lying there in a pool of its blood, thrashing around and spurting more blood over the ground. Its head had been blown apart by the defensive objects that the hosts carried. I began to feel anger start to rise up in my chest again and I snarled, moving carefully down the slope.

_-Are you alright, Scythe?-_ said Dart, coming up to me. It was unscathed and looked panicked, but excited. I grinned and nodded.

_-I'm alright. It's only a small wound,-_ I said.

_-So, you're going to attack them on the inside of the object?-_ Dart asked. I nodded.

The rest of the drones fell into line behind me. We slinked down the slope carefully, trying not to alert the hosts that we were coming.

That was when the belly began to close back up.

_-Hurry! We have to get inside it!-_ I yelled, breaking into a run. I felt giddy and hardly scared at all. I felt _alive_.

And happy that we were scaring away the hosts, of course.

We got to the bottom of the slope, where the object was. I could hear a deep whine starting up in its wings, and the belly was almost fully closed. Letting out a screech, I pushed myself forward and jumped into the belly of the object, just managing to snake in before it sealed shut. I scuttled across the ceiling and looked down at the hosts. They were all against the opposite wall, staring at me and making the vocalizations.

_-Scythe!-_ squeaked Dart as it squeezed into the gap of the belly just before it shut. Dart tumbled forward and hit the floor, before standing up and snarling at the hosts. I dropped and flipped over, landing on my feet and doing the same.

That was when one of the hosts raised a defense object.

It fired the object and a stream of small things flew out, hitting both Dart and I. These were unusual, though, because they didn't pierce the flesh like the others did. And they were _sticking_ to my skin like leeches, or plate worms...

I snarled and made a move to go forward, when suddenly my arm went numb. Without warning, my senses started to shut down and I toppled forwards, hitting the floor with a hollow _clang_. There was a bit of pain, but it seemed far off, distant... and I wasn't really concerned.

Then it hit me.

_-No!-_ I yelled. -_Dart! Get out of here, now!-_

_-I... I think that they just did something to me!-_ said Dart. -_I-I can't move! I... I... my arm...-_

The hosts were using the same device on us that they had used on the Matriarch. They were putting us to sleep. I struggled to stand up but my arms went limp as I moved, and I pushed myself uselessly along the floor. I was aware that it was tilting slightly, but that seemed far off... and it was getting even further away. So was my awareness of what was happening. I tried to screech, but all that came out was a low whine.

_-...Scythe I thing I...-_ Dart said quickly, trying to speak. I growled and jolted forwards, trying to push myself towards the hosts, but I couldn't. Struggling, I managed to get a handhold on the floor but couldn't pull myself. I felt like my mind was drifting away from my body, and all the feeling started to fade away.

_-...Dart you have to... have... have...-_ I said, trying to finish, but the words wouldn't come out right. I felt a wave of darkness begin to sweep over me, and I tried to fight it off. The floor tilted again, this time much rougher, and I was only barely aware that one of the hosts was standing right over the top of me.

_Matriarch, I'm so sorry,_ I said to myself as my thoughts began to fade away. And then, there was nothing but black.

x-x-x

**A.N.: ** As usual, reviews and comments? _Love_ to know what you think:D


	14. Captured

**A.N.:** (walks in) Hey, guys! Look, I am _so sorry_ that I haven't updated. There's been some personal things going on, as well as that wonderful omnipresent being known as "High School" looking over my shoulder. Ah, bless...  
But fear not. The new chapter of the story is here, and updates will **_not_** be as sporadic as they have been. I promise! Hope that you enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Alien", or any of its associated ideas. All ideas and "Alien" movies ar (c) to 20th Century Fox. All original characters and settings, however, are property of the author.

x-x-x

**Captured**

I'm not sure how long I was unconscious for – it could have been a few minutes, or maybe even hours – but I do remember having a strange dream while I was.

I was in the air, moving away from the Matriarch and the Hive. At first, I was just above the clearing, floating a few metres off the ground with Dart alongside me. At first I was startled, but then began to have fun with it, pushing myself through the air like I was a Swooper. A few of the little ones came out and chirped happily, trying to jump up and fly like I was. Then I began to float up higher and higher, and they scurried up the nearest tree, trying to follow.

Then I saw Stalker.

It was going up one of the trees next to me, going as quickly as it could, frantically trying to grab my hand. It was laughing along and I could detect jealousy in its movements and thoughts.

_-Don't think you can catch me, Stalker,-_ I said.

Then I paused.

My voice... it had sounded distant and far off when I spoke. Suddenly all of my limbs went limp and I couldn't move at all, but I was still going up into the air. It was cold, and I could feel something hard and freezing under my body. Then it tumbled wildly as the air began to shake around me, and I caught a glimpse of Dart doing the same.

I started to feel panicked and confused. _The air... shaking?_ I looked back over at Stalker and tried to grab its arm, but I fell short. Dart and I started to go higher and higher, and the ground went further away but the trees stretched up to us. Then we were above the canopy of the forest and I could make out all of the adult drones reaching after us-

_KA-THUD!_

Suddenly, I was thrown upwards and hit the ceiling hard, and then smacked back down onto the floor. I screeched and stood up, preparing to run off... and hit a wall in front of me, face on. I jumped backwards, startled, and then slammed into _another_ wall, only a short distance behind me! I screeched again, getting angry, and tried to arch my tail up, only for it to connect with the ceiling with a sharp clang!

This time, I pulled my tail back sharply and began to calm myself down. I could feel my body still active from the battle, and I wanted to jump around and tear into things until I didn't have to be on alert.

Then it hit me like a mad Swooper.

The hosts had captured me.

I had been_ captured_.

Trying not to lose my self-control, I hissed softly and waited for the sound waves to come back to me. They bounced back almost immediately, and I felt my hearts begin to sink. The wall in front of me was just high enough to let me stand up straight on all fours, but not by much more. It was completely flat around the edges, but in the centre the surface was bumped and looked thinner than the rest of it. I glanced around along the other walls that blocked me off at the sides to the back of the space, and saw a near-identical wall there.

_Trapped_.

The thought kept on ringing through my mind, reverberating off the walls of my brain: _I was trapped_.

I snarled and flicked my tail with distaste, the barb clanging against the wall to my left. It was just wide enough to let me do that, but little else. Frustrated, I lashed out and head-butted the wall in front of me as hard as I could! I felt the space rock slightly, and then heard some strange noises from outside. Several of the noises sounded fast and were interrupted by other noises, while one of the others was fairly soft and slow. The hosts, of course.

I snarled again and this time rammed into the wall head-first, but this time I clawed at the wall with my hands. It bent a little bit under the weight and then flattened out again, and I hit it again. The sounds of the hosts were getting louder, more frantic-

Without warning, white-hot agony flared through my body! I screeched loudly and lost my footing – if you could call it that – and slammed into the floor of the space. It was over as quickly as it had begun, but my body felt like it was both tingling and burning at the same time. I looked around to the right wall of the cage and saw a little spot of heat that was rapidly diminishing.

I snarled loudly, and then screeched at the top of my voice, jumping up and smacking into the roof of the prison at the same time. I felt it shift upward slightly and then it wobbled, but didn't fall over. The hosts were making another noise now – higher in pitch and going rapidly – this made me even madder than I already was.

The space jolted again. I heard something rattle, but there was something odd about it, something... hollow.

About a million things were running through my mind, but one of them stood out: _the Matriarch_. I couldn't feel her presence anymore, like I was on top of the hill overlooking the lake.

But I could feel _someone_ nearby.

Feeling like I was going to go mad with anger, I screeched again and rammed forward violently, nearly toppling the space - my _prison_ - over... but without warning white-hot pain lanced through my body.

x-x-x

'I think it's awake again!' yelled Mace from the hold. I heard the screeching of one of the creatures as it tried to get out... followed quickly by a loud buzzing sound and a high-pitched squeal, and then nothing.

'Holy _shit_... the tasers do almost nothing to them,' Mace said. The dropship rocked slightly and then, much more gracefully, rose up. Then the turbulence stopped and I lay back in the seat, my mind reeling.

'You okay, Luce?' said Pitt, and I jolted back up. He was standing by me and Harriet, just in case we were shell-shocked by what had happened. I nodded and went back in the seat.

'Y-Yes. I'm fine. You just scared me then...' I said, and gave a reassuring smile. Pitt nodded and looked back up to the cargo bay.

'I have a question to the both of you,' Pitt said. Harriet, who had been quiet the entire trip, suddenly looked up. 'Do you two have any idea what those two things might be?'

I shook my head. 'No idea. They're-'

'They're aliens,' said Harriet. Pitt raised an eyebrow, and Harriet sighed. 'No, what I'm saying is that those two things... they are the _least_ terrestrial creatures I've ever seen. Most of the complex creatures we've studied are surprisingly similar to some of earth's species, but not these guys.'

Pitt nodded. 'I see,' he muttered, and then he went quiet.

Harriet and I were feeling shaken up and scared after the encounter on the surface – I mean, who the hell _wouldn't?_ – but I got the feeling that we were dealing with the attack much better than the military guys. That might have been because our little research team had seen violent animal attacks before.

I remember that, on one occasion, we had to investigate the deaths of colonists who had died of brain embolisms. It turned out that they had an alien parasite feeding off their blood through the brain, killing them only an hour after infestation.

Thankfully, the investigation hadn't taken long and we were able to save almost all the colonists who had been infested. But I still can't get the image of the parasites – they were like foot-long eels, and they were squirming under the skins of their victim's necks – out of my mind.

'_Major, we've just cleared the atmosphere,'_ said Hung over our headsets. _'Sutherland has reported that he's getting the animal transports ready. Sergeant Kirby's team is also coming up, but they'll arrive back at the Conrad about twenty minutes after us.'_

'Roger that,' said Pitt. 'Hung, has the other team reported in any creatures similar to the ones that attacked us?'

'_No, sir,'_ said Hung. _'they did manage to get topography readings and recorded several creatures, but not the ones that attacked us.'_

'Of course, Hung,' Pitt sighed. 'Right, tell Sutherland to make sure the animal storage is ready.'

A low, threatening hiss floated down the stairwell from the cargo bay, followed by another buzzing and shrieking noise. Mace walked along the deck and appeared at the top of the stairs.

'Major? The bugs are getting restless,' said Mace. I looked up at Mace, curious about what he had said.

'What do you mean by "bugs"?' I asked. Mace hesitated, and then shrugged.

'Well... it just seemed like a good name for them,' he said, shrugging. 'I mean, they moved like insects and they were oblivious to pain...'

Harriet shrugged and looked at me. 'Hey, it makes sense.'

I nodded, but couldn't help wondering about how confident Mace had sounded with calling them "bugs".

About ten minutes later, I felt the dropship slide to a halt. In a low-gravity environment (like the Conestoga-class starships or the dropships) you can tell that the ship is slowing down because it feels like an elevator stopping at a floor. After about a minute, the dropship shook slightly and I heard the hydraulic clamps locking into the hull.

'And now for the fun part,' said Harriet. I gave a soft smile but Pitt didn't react. The smile dropped from my face.

Slowly, the dropship was raised into the hanger of the _Conrad_. There was a low whine as we went higher, then the dropship jolted to a stop. For a few seconds there was no sound and then we heard the low hiss of the airlock re-pressurising. Then, again, there was a low whine and the dropship jolted back up before coming to a stop.

'_Major, we have successfully docked,'_ said Hung over the headset. Pitt let out a relieved sigh.

'Come on out,' he said, making the restrainers flip up. Harriet jumped to her feet and went straight up the steps, while I had a little more difficulty. My legs were shaking and it was hard to stand up straight. Pitt grabbed my arm and helped me to the stairs.

'You okay, Luce?' he asked. I nodded.

'Just a little shaky... that's all,' I said. By the time we were up in the cargo bay I felt a little steadier on my feet... but not by much. The cockpit door opened up and Hung walked out, looking sweaty and pale.

Without warning, both of the crates with the creatures began to shake. I heard several noises like hissing and scraping, and the crate closest to us jolted violently a few times. Then both went quiet and we went out of the dropship as quickly as we could.

'Jesus... is that where those things were?' said Hung as he looked over his shoulder. The guy looked seriously terrified, more than the rest of us had been. Pitt just nodded, then continued down the ramp.

'Mace? Stay here and watch them, will you?' Pitt asked. Mace nodded silently and headed back up the ramp, then stood where he was with his pulse rifle at the ready. Pitt sighed and I looked over.

'What's wrong?' I asked, a little hesitantly.

'It looks like we're going to have to rethink this survey mission,' sighed Pitt, his voice devoid of humour.

I couldn't have agreed more.

x-x-x

'Major, we have the transport crates prepared and ready to go,' said Pete Sutherland as we walked into the mess hall. I jolted back into reality, having been lost in my own little world. It happens to me quite a lot, usually after moments of stress, so I wasn't surprised.

When the two groups had gone down to the surface, four of the marines had stayed up on the _Conrad_ to monitor the ship and keep the reserve dropship ready, just in case we were in need of help and needed to be picked up. Pete Sutherland had been left in charge of them and he was sitting at the main table with another marine I didn't recognise.

Pitt sighed and moved over, unclipping his body armour and setting it on the table with a heavy _clank_. The others stopped and waited for an order, until Pitt nodded at them and they went scurrying away to the locker room and the armoury. I just sat down in one of the chairs heavily and unclasped the body armour.

'That's good, lieutenant,' said Pitt. He sat up straight and drummed his fingers on the table for a few moments, then leaned forward.

'Lieutenant, what did you hear from us about the... "things"?' Pitt asked. Sutherland thought for a moment and then answered.

'Hung said that... that they were coming in swarms and that they got two of the marines,' he answered. 'But then the communications got cut off. We were worried that something might have happened to your group until we got a thermal scan of the surface and saw you-'

'Wait, wait a second,' I interrupted, standing up. 'What do you mean, the communications got cut off? How...'

'Hung said that one of the creatures snapped off the radio transmitter,' Pitt said matter-of-factly. My eyes widened and felt a brief flare of fear.

'What... do you mean?' I asked. Pitt smiled warmly and shook his head.

'I saw that little fact as _not _being an appropriate piece of knowledge for you or the others,' he said. 'Besides, we were in the air and the lieutenant knew we were coming.'

I nodded, then rested my head in my hand. But as I put it down I felt a sharp sting in my cheek. I jumped up and looked down at my hand... only to see that blood was all over the fingertips.

'Shit,' muttered the other marine and he stood up, walking over to me. 'I'll get you a plaster gauze, okay?' he said, taking my hand. Shocked, I clamped my hand onto my cheek and held it there fast.

'Oh, Luce, if you want you can take some time out,' said Pitt as we walked into the infirmary, adjacent to the mess hall. 'At least until the other group comes back here.'

The marine opened the door to the brightly lit infirmary, and we walked inside. The room was about twenty feet wide by thirty long, and had a row of retractable beds lining the opposite wall to the entrance. He led me over to a small table and made me sit down, then sat opposite to me on the table and opened up a small drawer.

'You must've taken quite a nasty spill,' he said with a grin. I just nodded dumbly, pressing my hand up to my face as hard as possible. It throbbed a little, but I didn't care. There was a light _chink_ and I looked up, and saw that the marine had fitted a small mirror on the table. He had a row of medical instruments laid out in front of him, as well as a bottle of painkillers and several gauze pads.

I looked into the mirror hesitantly, checking my injury.

I had three small cuts running across my cheek, just below the cheekbone. My face was specked with dirt and smudges, but the cuts had a slightly dark look to them, like the dirt had been pressed in. They didn't look swollen or ragged, though; just three small cuts that appeared to have been made by a knife.

Or a set of sharp claws.

'It's not so bad,' I said out loud, mostly to myself. The marine nodded and then picked up a pad with disinfectant on it, handing it over.

'Just hold that up to your cheek for a few seconds, then I'll put on the gauze,' he said. I nodded and pressed it up... then inhaled sharply and bit my lip as my cheek seemed to flare up on fire!

After about ten seconds – which felt more like ten _minutes_– the marine pulled the pad off and gently stuck the gauze on. The pain briefly flared up again and then subsided to a dull, aching throb.

'It'll go away,' he said, putting away the medical equipment. 'I just had to put on a lot of the disinfectant because, you know... you were scratched and there was a lot of dirt in the cuts.'

'Right,' I said, gritting my teeth. I stood up to leave the room and walked out into the mess hall, flopping down into a chair that had been pulled out. The marine came out just after me and closed the door, but he turned to me instead of going to Pitt.

'Hey, if you don't mind me asking...' he asked curiously, 'what were those things that attacked you guys? And killed Mike?'

I shrugged and stood up, heading for the lockers. The marine hurried off to the cargo bay, where Pitt was. The klaxon lights had gone on and were sending orange lights flashing across the bay and the mess hall. The second dropship was docking, and that meant that soon Pitt was going to reveal his plans for the rest of the operation.

I got the feeling that Garland was going to be disappointed.

x-x-x

It took about half an hour after everyone was offloaded from the second dropship, but we were finally organised and sitting around the main table in the mess hall.

Brasco and Garland were, at first, highly excited about the finds on the surface, and they wanted to see the creatures we had captured. But that excitement died down a little once they heard about exactly _what_ had happened. They were both sitting next to me, and Harriet was sitting opposite to us. Pitt was off somewhere getting the projector ready and so everybody waited, talking about what had happened.

'Hey, Luce, what's with the cheek?' asked Garland. I looked over and rubbed the gauze pad absent-mindedly.

'It's nothing,' I said, and turned away. There was the sound of footsteps walking across the mess hall and I looked over, seeing Pitt entering via the cargo bay. He was being followed by Mace, Hung, and the marine Kirby. She was carrying a stack of files and discs.

'Attention! Officer on deck!' said Sutherland, and the marines immediately stood up. Most of them were in their fatigues and were wearing them fairly casually, though Sutherland and two others seemed to be prissy about keeping theirs orderly. I and the other scientists also stood up, probably looking sloppy at it. Pitt reached the end of the table and nodded, resulting in everyone sitting down.

'I assume that you have all... _heard_ about what happened with Group One's encounter on the surface,' Pitt said. The marines murmured in reply. Pitt nodded to Kirby and she switched on the light projector on the table as Hung turned off the lights. The wall behind Pitt was lit up with a topography map, all the contours of the planet's surface highlighted. The map showed a steep set of cliffs with a large, circular lake at the bottom – probably a caldera – and the flat plain that extended around it. A column of small photos scrolled down along the left hand side of the screen, showing both satellite views of the area and photos that had been taken while we were airborne.

Then Pitt explained the attack in detail.

He went through what had happened, right through from finding the dropship transponder signal to the takeoff to get away from the creatures. The marines started out curious, and then their surprise and shock grew as Pitt clinically explained what happened. Quite frankly, I was trying to forget it. It isn't every day that a man gets killed by a giant black insect in front of your eyes.

That was when the projector enlarged one of the photos. I gasped quietly and felt Garland lean in closer to get a better look.

The photo must have been taken from the dropship when Hung was taking it up. It showed at least _twenty_ of those creatures, far more than I had seen during the attack, swarming around the ground where the dropship had previously been, trying to clamber onto the landing gear... it reminded me of guard dogs going after a thief who was cowering on top of a car.

'...holy _shit_,' muttered one of the marines. Most of the people around the table nodded in agreement as the projector shut off and Hung switched the lights back on.

'Now you know what happened,' said Pitt. He sighed and stood up straight, putting his hands behind his back. 'As the commander of this mission, I am suspending all of the planned landings on LV-453 until further notice.'

I heard Garland whisper something. When I turned around he was gawking at Pitt with his mouth wide open. So was Brasco, although he looked to be more understanding of Pitt's motives. I didn't blame the guy for his decision.

'However, seeing as we know these things don't fly,' Pitt continued with a wry grin, shooting a quick look at me and the others, 'we will continue to perform aerial reconnaissance around the planet's surface until we can determine exactly what these creatures are.'

There was silence in the mess hall as everyone processed the information. As disappointed as I felt, I still felt relieved. Being attacked by giant, man-sized black insects? I'd rather have my toe shot off then get near those things without a glass sheet separating us. Garland appeared to feel different, looking visibly crushed. I couldn't see Brasco, who was sitting behind me, but I expected him to be as indifferent as ever.

'One final thing, people,' Pitt began. I snapped back up and regained my focus on him. 'The fact that there are no landings for now does _not_ mean that this mission has been cancelled. We are still very much on assignment, and I expect you all to perform your tasks to the best of your abilities. Our next task is to prepare the dropships for further flybys of the surface,' Pitt checked his watch. 'You have until 0-300 hours to do so. Dismissed.'

The marines nodded and replied, mostly "yes sir". Then Pitt saluted, and the marines stood up and began walking out of the mess hall. As they left, several of them fell into a small group behind Pitt and followed him as he walked over to us, the researchers. I stood up, waiting to be addressed.

'Well, this is just _perfect_,' growled Garland under his breath. Pitt stopped and threw a curious look in his direction.

'What happens to be perfect?'

'Oh... it's nothing,' Garland muttered. I rolled my eyes and looked away from him, frustrated over how childish he was acting.

'Well, you should have at least one reason to smile,' said Pitt. He looked over us and noticed the gauze pad on my forehead, but looked away from it after a second. Then he continued.

'Now, I said that we need to find out more about these creatures that attacked us before we can conduct any more surface surveys,' Pitt began. 'I expect that we should be able to go down to the planet again after a week, maybe two in a worst-case scenario.'

At that, my interest began to rise. I couldn't help it, so I asked. 'What are you talking about, Major?'

Pitt grinned. 'Well, as it so happens, you people were brought along with us to study any flora and fauna that we happened to find on the surface. And as it happens... we have two of those things up here on the ship.'

My eyes widened with realisation. Of _course_! We would be able to study the ones that had nearly killed us, and that meant-

'We're going to be studying these things _up close_?' Garland asked, sounding amazed. Pitt nodded with a grin.

'Okay, now if you don't mind I'd like to get started on the study of these things as quickly as possible,' said Pitt. 'Kirby and the others, behind me, are going to help you in guarding and escorting the creatures from the dropship to the study labs. Now, any questions?'

We shook our heads in unison.

'Good,' said Pitt, and he walked off to the locker rooms. I looked back at Harriet and Garland, who both looked like they had won the lottery.

To me, despite having some bad feelings about the mission, things seemed to be looking up for all of us. Still... there was a vibe about those creatures that made me nervous.

That nervousness was swept away, though, when we went off to get cleaned up and dressed for the analysis of the creatures.

x-x-x

**A.N.:** As usual, any feedback and crits are welcome. Thank you. :)


	15. Imprisoned

**A.N.:** Just a quick update: no, this isn't the ending. I thought that'd be a bit of a cheat to end it here. =P

x-x-x

**Imprisoned**

With a sharp jolt, the prison began to move.

I snarled and lashed out at the opposite wall with my tail – it wouldn't do anything, but it at least gave me the feeling of doing _something_ – and then curled back up against one corner. The prison shuddered lightly, then came to a stop; there was a heavy whirring from outside, like a large insect, and then the prison began to move once again.

From what I could tell, I was being moved along through some kind of large space, like a cavern. I didn't know how large it was, but from the acoustics and the way the sounds were reverberating against the prison, it was _gigantic_. I would have guessed it to be nearly eight times the size of the Matriarch's chamber itself.

Whatever the size, the cavern was crawling with the hosts. Several of them were moving close by, chattering loudly; they probably couldn't hear each other well over the noises that filled the air, but I could hear them distinctly. I made a note of that, that they didn't seem to have senses as keen as ours. After a few moments the hosts began to move away, quickly disappearing from my hearing range.

There was then a loud, skull-rattling whine from nearby, and the sound of it made me shriek in surprise and pain. It sounded like one of the flying objects the hosts had used; after a few seconds the whining soon died down to a much lower humming and buzzing. There was a series of heavy footfalls from somewhere else, like heavy logs striking rocks, but from inside the prison it was impossible to tell the direction that they were coming from. The striking sounds were... unusual. I couldn't quite figure out why, but they were spaced out almost like footfalls...

A sense of panic began to take root in the back of my mind, steadily and swiftly building. Thoughts began to rush madly through my head, uncontrollable and maddening. What if these hosts, these _things_, had captured the Matriarch and she was imprisoned, unable to move or speak? What if they had _killed_ her and the remainder of the Hive, leaving only Dart and myself alive?

The prison rocked heavily, throwing my thoughts in disarray for a moment... and my body, too. I was thrown against the wall to my right and snarled, lashing out at it in spite. It felt like the prison was moving along, but... there was no real sensation of movement. I paused, feeling cautiously for any changes, in case this was a trap. It was completely bizarre, a sensation I had never felt before. There was some sound filtering through from outside, a faint clattering that droned on and on from somewhere below.

The prison continued to move like this – not-moving, I think would be a better term for it – and I stayed where I was, tensed up, my senses completely open to try and anticipate any sudden changes. Then, after a minute or so, the prison stopped. There was no sharp jolt to signify the end of movement, just a gentle swaying as the prison went forwards and then back slightly.

And it was silent.

It took a moment for that to sink in. There was absolutely no sound filtering into the prison, and neither was there any acoustic vibrations against the prison's walls. It felt completely and utterly dead, like one of the lower chambers of the Hive caverns that was almost fully blocked off by rockfalls and cave-ins.

_Silence_.

I stayed where I was for a few moments, not moving, listening intently for any sign of life (or movement) outside. There was nothing... no noise, not hint that there was anything alive outside.

And then one of the prison's walls slid away.

For a moment I was taken by surprise, thinking I must have done something to the wall earlier to weaken it, and it had finally given way. But the wall was gone, and beyond it was a space far larger. I couldn't believe it. I was finally _free_! With a screech I scuttled forward, claws and fangs ready, prepared to strike at these miserable host creatures that had tried to harm the Matriarch! I raced forward and exploded from the prison, a flurry of claws and fangs...

...but there was nothing there.

I stopped for a moment and then proceeded forward with caution, roughly reaching the centre of the space. It was almost like a much larger version of the prison, made up of four flat walls, a ceiling, and a floor. All of them were cold, though the temperature wasn't uncomfortably so. There were four objects set into the ceiling's corners that were emitting some kind of light, similar to the sun's but far weaker. Slowly, I padded over to the opposite wall of the space and gazed around; the entire place was about three body lengths long and high.

There was a sudden, soft hissing from the prison, and the wall which had opened up slid back into place. It closed silently, leaving only a faint depression in the wall where it had been.

I paused for a few moments, gazing at the depression in the wall, and then charged it. I struck it hard – hard enough to at least knock a Sprint over – but nothing happened. I snarled and lashed out at it with my claws, but they bounced and scraped off the wall like they were blunted and useless.

I slunk back, sitting on my haunches in the centre of the space, that feeling of panic – something that felt completely alien – creeping its way back into my mind.

I had gone out of one prison and straight into another one.

_What were these hosts going to do?_

x-x-x

'So then. Are we all set?'

I pulled on a pair of gloves and fastened them around the wrist, making sure they were sealed. Turning towards Garland, I gave a firm nod.

'I'm ready,' said Brasco, tugging his lab coat's sleeves. Like the rest of ours, it tied up at the front, from the collar down to the very bottom, which sat just below the knees. It was a thick white fabric and it was very hard to move around quickly in them... which, fortunately, we wouldn't be doing much of.

I tugged the sleeves of the coat down over my wrists and the fasteners for the gloves connected with a seal inside, locking into place; this was a design to reduce the risk of exposure to dangerous chemicals. The coats and the gloves were a compulsory uniform for any science assessment, and I wasn't going to argue with having to use them any time soon.

Brasco, on the other hand, often would when he was given the chance. The lab coat he currently was a size too small and he was struggling to get into it, and while we'd looked for one of the right size, we hadn't found any. Despite that, he managed to get his sleeves connected to the gloves and stretched slightly, trying to get a feel for the suit.

'I feel like this is a wetsuit,' said Brasco, frowning. 'It's like someone's poured rubber inside a wetsuit and then filled it with water.'

'Deal with it,' said Garland with a smirk. 'Luce? How about you?'

'I'm good,' I said, picking up a security pass and tucking it into the tag slip on the chest of the lab coat. I stood up and walked over to the door, a thick, pressure-sealed security door.

We weren't in the midsection of the _Conrad_, where the cryo chambers and the marines had their lockers and belongings. We were in the research laboratory of the ship, which sat behind the hangar bay in the stern. The _Conrad_ was roughly a hundred metres longer than a regular Conestoga-class warship as a result, to accommodate the necessary labs and equipment; to my knowledge there had been three of these built so far, and they were highly expensive to produce.

The lab was built for researchers to safely study xenoflora and xenofauna in a safe and controlled environment. It had its own security systems and power sources to prevent accidents (like the accidental release of a contagion or a particularly lethal animal specimen due to power failure) and was designed to survive an orbital crash, or even an explosion of the ship's engines.

In here, I felt safe and completely calm. It was a relief to be back in my own element after being out with grunts and their heavy weapons and macho attitude for several days, if you included the time we'd spent before entering cryo. The soft humming of the corridors and computer terminals were something I'd take over the heavy machinery of the hangar bay any day.

'The specimens are being kept in holding pens three and four,' said Garland, looking at his monitoring board. 'They've been in there for ten minutes. Let's not keep them waiting any longer.'

'You sure that they can even think?' said Brasco, speaking with a half-grin.

'No, not really,' said Garland, shaking his head. He swiped his security card on the door, waiting until it slid open completely before walking in.

The key difference between the research labs of the _Conrad_ and the main hangar was two-fold. The first part was that labs were kept immaculately clean and were brightly lit and white, in comparison to the well-worn piece of military hardware that occupied the forward two thirds of the ship. The second part was the level of security. In order to go into any room in the research area, you had to pass through two doors with a security portal between them, almost like an airlock. If there was some kind of hostile organism in there with you, the second security door would lock into place and quarantine the area.

Every area in the research labs contained a security portal. After all, you never knew when something could latch onto your face and come out into the world with you.

The three of us walked into the portal and the door to the locker room slid shut with a pneumatic hiss. After several seconds, the other door slid open and we walked out into the access corridor. The containment pens for animal specimens were lined up along the sides of the corridor, which was laid out in a boxy U-shape; all the researcher's supplies and rooms sat on the inner part, while the pens were on the outer.

'Are any of the marines going to get in?' I asked Garland as we headed off to the holding pens.

'They can if they have to,' he replied. 'Pitt talked me into it.'

'But they can't-'

'Considering the way that the creatures fought on the planet's surface, it's a necessary safety precaution that they can get in here,' he said. 'They're only going to come in here if there's an emergency. And only the commander has the authority to open the doors to here.'

'Well, that's comforting,' said Brasco with a snort. Garland smirked, and then he began to slow down.

'Okay, here we are,' he said, coming to a stop in front of a particularly heavy-looking security door. Through the small viewing port in the centre of the door I could see the portal, and beyond that the study chamber for the pens. Garland pressed his fingers onto a scanner and swiped his security card through a slot, and after a soft beep the door slid open.

When we got through the security portal and into the study chamber – which resembled a computer lab crossbred with the police side of an interrogation room – Harriett came rushing over, grinning wildly.

'We've got them in here!' she said, about to jump out of her skin with excitement. 'They shuffled the containment crates around a little before they got them into the dual observations-'

'Chris?' said Garland, calmly.

'Yes, what?'

'We know,' he said, smiling politely. 'We were told too.'

'...right,' said Harriett after a few moments, looking red in the face. 'It's just... you know. Something! Something new to look at. And it's... yes. Let's just get our first good look at them.'

'I'd like that very much,' said Garland dryly.

Harriett rushed over to one of the computer consoles and began to type rapidly. I wanted to get a good look at the things, too, but her level of excitement did seem a little overbearing. Especially considering what had happened when they attacked on the planet.

There was a faint rolling sound as both of the observation pen covers slid open, revealing the rooms within. They weren't very large by an animal's standards – about nine metres by nine metres – and they were positioned slightly lower into the floor than the rest of the level, so that the observation windows sat roughly in the centre of the wall. The floor of the room was fully visible.

As the windows opened fully, Brasco stepped forward to see one of the creatures for the first time... and he immediately stepped back.

'My _God_,' he breathed as he saw the thing for the first time.

Up close, the creature's size was even more apparent than it had been before. It was curled up on the floor, its extended skull bowed down and the tail curled around itself, but it was still at least four feet tall; if it was standing up straight, I would have guessed it to be at least seven or eight feet. It was covered in bony protrusions and what looked like chitinous plates, mainly along the arms and legs from what I could see. There was a kind of sinuous, elegant beauty to it,

Looking at it from where I was, one could have been forgiven for thinking the thing was dead. It was completely, unnaturally still, not looking up when the observation pen's cover locked into place. It didn't even appear to be breathing.

The sheer stillness sent a chill up my spine.

'Alright, there are some bioelectric readings coming from both of them, so they're not dead from shock,' said Luce, walking over with a mobile display. 'Apart from moving into the centre of the room when it was released, that one hasn't moved. The other one seems a bit restless.'

'Restless?' I asked. Luce nodded and gestured to the second observation pen, and I walked over to it curiously. Garland was leaning against the edge of the window, looking down at the pen's occupant.

'...this thing is amazing,' he said softly, his eyes wide.

This one was a little livelier; unlike the first, it was standing up and peering around the room slowly. Its body was clearly illuminated by the sharp light: the long, whip-like tail tipped off with a sharp barb, the powerfully built hind legs, the thin and skeletal arms and upper body. It took a single step forward, paused, and then continued to weave its head back and forth in a swaying motion.

'What do you think it's doing?' asked Garland, not taking his eyes off it for a second.

'It doesn't have any eyes,' I said. 'Maybe it can use some sort of echolocation, and it's seeing around the room, trying to get a good sense of its environment.'

'We'll have to do some tests on that,' muttered Garland, and he nodded. The creature took another step – this one in the direction of the observation window – and swayed its head back and forth.

As we watched, the thing parted its lips and bared its long, razor-sharp teeth. For a moment I thought it might have seen us, then brushed that aside. After all, how can something see you when it has no eyes? The jaws then slid open, revealing the line of sharp teeth running around the lower jaw, and thin ropes of drool began to spatter from its mouth onto the floor.

'Must be hungry,' muttered Brasco as he peered over into the second observation room.

I turned to say something to Brasco... and stopped. There was a faint glimmer from within the creature's maw, and I turned back to it. As we watched, its tongue – or at least what _might_ have been its tongue – slid out of the mouth with a rumbling hiss.

It protruded out of the mouth by about eight inches or so. The tip of it had what looked like a smaller mouth sitting on the end of it, and it opened and closed several times. I felt my jaw drop open with surprise as the tongue slid back and the creature shut its mouth.

'...what the hell does that do?' said Garland, speaking lowly as if he was worried the creatures would be able to hear him.

I didn't answer for a few seconds, watching intently as the creature moved to one corner of the room and curled up on itself. The tail flicked about once, the sharp tip glinting in the reflection of the light before sliding onto the floor near the feet. I remembered the sharp _shrack_ it had made when Lloyd's shoulder armour was cleanly punched through...

'Well, Cam, that's what we're here for,' I said, a feeling of warm excitement bubbling up from inside. 'So let's find out what these things do.'

x-x-x

It was infuriating, to be caged up and restrained.

That feeling of not knowing where I really was, like I was trapped like an insect in a hollow twig, was eating away at my mind. That was nothing compared to the growing anxiety for the safety of the Matriarch, not being able to feel her warm and ever watchful mind over mine. And then there were the other drones, the ones who I'd spent my entire life with.

What was happening?

For all I knew the hosts had already captured them, probably having killed most of the hive in the process. I had a fleeting, horrifying vision of the Matriarch restrained and tied down, unable to break out of her bonds and screeching in a raging fury that none of the hosts could possibly understand. What about the eggs, all those who were unborn? Would have they been killed too?

I shut off those thoughts, trying my absolute hardest to remain focused. I would have to find a way out of here and somehow get back to the hive, no matter what.

And how was I going to do that, exactly?

I stayed where I was for some time, steadying my mind, planning out some kind of action or path I could take to get out of here. I could see this new prison perfectly with all my senses; every noise I made bounced off the walls and showed me where the various grooves and ridges were located, I could smell many unfamiliar and uncomfortable things in the air. The temperature was bearable as well, though it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference to my condition anyway.

I carefully mapped out the layout in my mind, memorising everything. I was sure that it would all come in use soon... and if not soon, then whenever it would be of most use. That was likely to be a long time. But I was prepared to wait. The only thing that made me want to hurry and do something immediately was an image of the Matriarch, once such a majestic and noble figure, once again a prisoner of these _things_ that had now captured me.

But I would be patient. Patience would lead to my release.

x-x-x

**A.N.:** 'Ello there, everyone. Long time no see. =D

First and foremost: I apologise for the two-year wait on this chapter. Good news is that it's finally been finished, after several big rewrites and rethinking parts of the story. As usual, reviews and crits are well welcomed, though I'll understand if you don't wish to leave any...


	16. Conspiracy

**Conspiracy**

**USS Conrad  
High orbit around LV-453  
28-05-2188, 03.31 a.m.**

'...hideous. Truly hideous.'

Major Pitt was standing in front of one of the observation windows, staring at the creature that sat inside. It had been five days now, five days of non-stop experiments and observations and testing, and we finally had some results for the Major. He was standing there with Mace and one of the other marines, one I didn't know.

Pitt's words seemed to sum up all their opinions nicely.

'You got that right, major,' said the marine I didn't recognise. He was built like a boxer, with a blocky jaw and a series of tattoos that went up his neck from his collar. He leaned in, pressing his arm up against the window. 'That is one ugly sucker in there. He'd probably-'

'I wouldn't do that,' I said quickly. Before he could respond there was a loud _thunk_ as the alien inside smashed into the window. The marine jumped back and grabbed for his gun. As quick as a snake, Mace's arm shot out and grabbed the marine's hand before it got to the handgrip.

'Not a very smart move, Nichols,' muttered Mace. The marine scowled and yanked his hand away, crossing his arms as the alien screeched and brayed on the other side, its claws raking and skittering off the window as it furiously tried to attack us. The window was heavily reinforced, but the blows were shaking it in its frame.

'...hideous,' repeated Pitt softly, and he stepped forward to peer closely at the creature. It had dropped away from the window and was sitting in the centre of the room, head lowered and swivelling from side-to-side. No matter which way the head was pointed, it always seemed to be looking at you; that should have been laughable, considering it didn't have any eyes.

But that was exactly what it was doing.

'We think it uses echolocation and pheromones to hunt, probably to make up for its lack of vision,' I started, walking over to the window with a clipboard. 'They're omnivorous and have an advanced metabolism, but don't require a many nutrients...'

'What about their physiology?' asked Pitt.

'Their bodies are... interesting, to put it that way,' I said, flipping a page. 'Their bodies are covered by exoskeletal plates, similar to terrestrial insects. However we took some body scans and they appear to have an endoskeletal structure-'

'A what?'

'Bones,' I said to Nichols. 'They have bones like we do, on the inside. But despite that they have an exoskeleton, like an insect.'

'Why would that be?' asked Pitt.

'I don't know, it's stumped us,' I said. 'The exoskeleton is probably an evolutionary leftover, a vestigal part of their physiology, but both of the structures grow into one another at certain points. Here, along the skull, you can see the bracing between-'

'What about their intelligence?' asked Pitt, cutting me off. I knew better than to argue with a military commander, so I went to that section of the report.

'Well, they're smart, that much is obvious. They started attacking the feeding hatches at the end of the first day, and we figured out they were trying to escape through that way, so we started gassing them before feeding them. Then they began covering the gas vents with a resin secretion, and we couldn't use it anymore...'

I kept droning on, informing the Major of everything the creatures had done. He was only half-listening, like he'd already found out just what he wanted to know and wasn't interested in anything that followed. I knew from experience to not mention anything about it, and-

'Any physical weaknesses?' asked Pitt abruptly.

'Uh, just what we know from the surface encounter,' I answered. 'We haven't really got any equipment to find out. It's got to do with their-'

'You haven't got any equipment?' asked Pitt, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. I nodded.

'They bleed acid, Major. We can't risk doing any tests on them, apart from the ones we've already done. To really study them and find out any weaknesses in their physiology we'd have to dissect them, and given how corrosive their blood is, it's a risk we can't take. That said they have an aversion to fire-'

'I understand that,' he said sharply. 'Can you get any quick tests done and find out for us?'

'No, we can't,' I repeated. Pitt nodded curtly, and looked back into the cell.

'Well, I think you've done all that you can,' he said. 'You may leave and rest up. Have some time off.'

'What the hell is wedged up his ass?' muttered Brasco as we headed back to the bunk room. I shrugged, not really interested in pursuing the question any further. Pitt _had_ seemed a little distant and short-tempered over the past few days. Most of the marines had been the same way, too, but I'd put that down to the stress of losing their comrades on the surface.

Speaking of them, they hadn't been able to locate them at all...

I pushed those thoughts out of my head as we entered the bunk room; it was a sparsely furnished and functional room, with eight bunks lining the walls around a central table. Harriett was at the table, going over one of the test results, but Garland wasn't there.

'Hey, where's Cam?' asked Brasco. Harriett shook her head.

'Don't know. He went off to the computer lab, said he had something to finish up,' she said, tapping away rapidly at the keyboard in front of her. I couldn't be bothered doing anything else, so I climbed straight up into my bunk and tried to go to sleep.

x-x-x

Two hours later and I was still awake.

I'd given up trying just after Harriett got into her bunk and shut off the lights, and so there had been nothing to do but lie on your back and stare at the top of the bunk, alone in your thoughts. For some reason I kept thinking back to dad. We'd been close when I was young, all the way through high school and college. But then the traineeship offer with the Company had come along, and as soon as I'd accepted...

The door to the bunk room opened. It caught me by surprise and I jerked, facing it, and to my relief it was just Garland standing there. He glanced down the corridor, then entered the room and headed straight for my bunk.

'...Cam?' I asked quietly, 'what the hell-'

'Come with me,' he whispered. There was something about Garland's voice that made me instantly worried. Wordlessly I climbed out of the bunk, pulled on a coat, and followed him out into the corridor.

We walked to the far end, where the utilities storage was. He opened the door, ushered me inside, and turned the lights on.

'Cam, you'd better have something important to tell me,' I said, annoyed. Then I saw the look in his eyes, and shut up before I said anything else.

He was _terrified_.

'What is it, what's wrong?' I asked gently, moving closer to him. Garland raised his hands, ushering me back as he took a deep breath to calm himself.

'Luce, I was going to tell everyone, but... it's...' He stammered, then reached into his coat and pulled out a folder of printouts, quickly leafing through them. I caught a glimpse of the Weyland-Yutani watermark on each page and frowned; those were only printed on official documents.

'What is it you were going to tell everyone?'

Garland licked his lips, straining to try and find the right words. 'They... knew about them.'

'...who knew about _what_?'

'The Company!' he hissed. 'They knew about those things down there! That's why we were sent here in the first place, to find those things and collect specimens!'

For a few moments, I just stared at him. Garland was an odd guy with a weird sense of humour – he collected cobwebs, for one, and nearly got expelled from his college for his biology pranks – but this sounded far too serious for him to be making it up.

'…what do you mean?'

'Okay,' he began, flipping through the printouts and speaking softly, like he was afraid someone would hear what he was about to say. 'A few years ago, I heard about the bio-weaponry division of Weyland-Yutani. You've heard the stories about what they do, right?'

'Yes...'

'One of those rumours I heard was that they'd been trying to collect alien specimens from all over the place, both artefacts and animals. There's supposed to be a biological arms race going on between them and rivals, like Biosyn-'

I cleared my throat to interrupt and waved my hand: get to the point.

'It's the blood, Luce,' he said. 'I read a report a few years ago about a deep-space accident, happened decades ago. A long-range hauler got blown up by a warrant officer, she said an alien had killed the entire crew. The officer claimed it had acid for blood, it was fast... I remembered that a few hours ago and went looking through the ship's database, to find and check it.'

'Right. And?'

'Luce...' Garland licked his lip. 'Luce, they've known about these things for_ decades_.'

It took a few moments for his words to sink in completely. My mind reeled, automatically dismissing what he'd said before doubt began to eat its way into my brain.

'...what?'

'These creatures, these things that we have up here? The Company has known about them for years. Hell, they've been trying to send people out to get samples and specimens of them to bring back to earth. Supposed to be valuable as hell, like, they have weapons and pharmaceutical uses...'

'...how did you find this?' I asked, my mouth going dry.

'The Major had a couple of case files in the system, all on past encounters with these things,' said Garland. 'We weren't sent out here to survey a random system, Luce, the Company had this place scouted and terraformed back in the twenties. We're out here because they genetically modified some of these creatures and then lost them, and now they want them back.'

He paused, letting the words sink in. I stood still for a few moments before sagging, leaning against the wall.

Garland shoved the printouts at me. I took them and quickly skimmed over the pages; the first few were a mix of scientific and military reports on the capabilities of the creatures. Attached to the last of the reports were the photos, pages and pages of them. Each one pictured was slightly different in build – one looked like a dog, another disturbingly human – but the bodies all had the same basic form. Then there was some freakish hand-shaped thing and a man whose ches...

'They incubate inside a living host, these things,' he said, pulling the pictures away. 'Absorb some of the host's genetic material and mimic their physiology, which helps them to survive in host's environment. Then they... birth.'

There was silence for a while, neither of us able to find the words.

'...so... if the Company already knows what they are, why are we studying them?' I asked softly.

x-x-x

Silence.

I had never known proper silence before, true silence, a silence away from the Matriarch. It was maddening, not being able to feel her presence or the Hive's. I didn't know if there was another drone nearby, or if anything was even outside of the prison. Occasionally something would appear at one of the walls, but it would disappear before I could reach it, and even then it didn't make a sound...

Silence.

It was impossible to keep track of time in there. Every event had blurred into one, everything that happened felt distant and hollow. It wasn't even worth trying to escape anymore, because there was no way out.

Silence.

The floor vibrated gently, but I didn't bother reacting to it. It always happened; whenever the odd-tasting food arrived, when one of the cold devices came forward, even when the foul-smelling air used to seep into the prison and paralyse me. There had been a hatch that I nearly escaped through, but now...

The hatch in the floor opened up. I uncoiled, hissing, prepared to strike.

The object which came out of the hatch was unfamiliar, so much so I only watched it at first. It resembled one of the prey, but it gave off no pheromones or scent. Whatever it was it glowed brightly with energy, but the glow was strong, far too strong to have been from something alive.

As I watched it the thing moved, pulling out a blunt object with a sharp tip extending from the top. With a smooth flick my tail as arched forward, aimed directly at where the skull was. It hesitated for a few moments before slowly pushing forward, edging closer and closer to me. I bared my teeth and snarled, inner jaws twitching with anticipation-

It struck so fast I barely managed to pull away, the sharp tip that it held grazing the front of my skull. With a screech I swiped at the thing with my tail but it was far too agile, neatly dodging the blow before pulling back to the hatch. It slammed shut a moment before I pounced at it, slashing and rending until it became clear that the floor would not give way.

It was when I pulled back that I first felt something sticking to the front of my head.

It felt icy – only a small point at first, then spreading under the chitin of my exoskeleton and moving down. I clawed at the spot and felt something small, made of the same material as the prison's walls, before prying at it in an attempt to dislodge it. It was no use; the object stayed locked in place, refusing to give way.

I paused, feeling the ice spread through the length of my skull-

_-Scythe? Is that you?-_

x-x-x

**A.N.:** Yes, I lied a bit about updates becoming more frequent. This time, though, it only took a year and a half instead of two. See you soon!

**Another A.N. (13/05/2012):** Decided to go back and edit this chapter a bit, seeing as the first version was a highly rushed affair. No biggie.


	17. A Note

**Author's Note 07/02/2013**

Hello all, just a quick update.

Unfortunately, it's not an update of this story – and it won't be updated any time soon.

I started writing Drone on a whim years ago, and it's been so long since it started that both my writing and interests have shifted from away from it. That should be pretty obvious by now, given the massive gaps between updates. But with that said, while I'm going to apologise for not giving this a proper conclusion, I'm _also_ going to say thank you to the reviewers who've been following the story for as long as they have – always good to know I have fans.

Thanks a bunch, guys.

...

...oh that's right, I almost forgot.

Drone is dead, but the ideas I've had for a while about how to completely rewrite and redo it from scratch are not.

Keep a keen eye out, readers!


End file.
